South Sudan rebel leader-turned-VP tests positive for coronavirus Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s first vice president, the former rebel leader Riek Machar, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said Monday. Machar’s wife, Defence Minister Angelina Teny, and “a number of his office staff and …
Read More »S. Sudan rivals face fresh feud over control of states
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s main rivals were at loggerheads Friday over who will control the country’s 10 internal states, an issue that analysts and diplomats worried could jeopardise a power-sharing deal reached earlier this year. President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, old foes whose fallout in 2013 sparked civil …
Read More »EAC extraordinary summit on COVID-19 postponed on South Sudan request
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An Extraordinary Summit of the East African Heads of State which had been purposely convened to discuss the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been postponed on request by South Sudan. The summit which was to be held via video conferencing had been called …
Read More »Truck drivers on the spot for smuggling in people from South Sudan
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Truck drivers are smuggling people from South Sudan into Uganda, a report by the office of the Amuru Resident District Commissioner-RDC has revealed. According to the report, the drivers enter South Sudan alone through Elegu border and return with three people on board. Agnes …
Read More »South Sudanese refugees still entering Uganda despite border closure
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | South Sudanese refugees continue entering Uganda despite the closure of the country`s borders. President, Yoweri Museveni announced the closure of Uganda’s borders last week to contain the spread of the Corona virus alias COVID19. The State Minister for Refugees and Disaster Preparedness, Musa Ecweru …
Read More »Sudan defence minister dies at Juba peace talks
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese Defence Minister Lieutenant General Jamal al-Din Omar died of an unspecified illness Wednesday while in neighbouring South Sudan for peace talks with his country’s main rebel groups, the military announced. Omar had “suffered from a number of chronic illnesses,” armed forces spokesman Amer Mohamed al-Hassan said without elaborating. The …
Read More »Kadaga summons Finance Minister over Uganda-South Sudan traders compensation
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has summoned the Finance Minister Matia Kasaija to explain the approved compensation of Ugandan traders who made losses in South Sudan. While delivering her communication to MPs on Wednesday, Kadaga noted that she had received a complaint from …
Read More »South Sudan’s road to peace marred by ‘unconscionable’ violence
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | The cattle rustlers were asleep, resting ahead of a raid, when automatic gunfire tore through their camp. Ambushed by rival herdsmen, encircled and outgunned, they were cut down, one by one. Koba Ngacho was lucky. Shot three times and left for dead, the young rustler …
Read More »Kiir names new cabinet, hands defence to Machar’s wife
Juba, South Sudan | THE INDEPENDENT | South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has named a new cabinet for the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), handing the ministry of defence to Angelina Teny, wife of Vice President Riek Machar. The main opposition SPLM-IO that nominated nine, took the prominent cabinet dockets …
Read More »In starving South Sudan, peace is no guarantee of a meal
Mogok, South Sudan | AFP | The villagers hear the distant roar of jet engines before a cargo plane makes a deafening pass over Mogok, dropping sacks of grain from its hold to the marooned dust bowl below. There is no other way to get food to this starving hamlet in …
Read More »