Africa

In northeast Nigeria, where armed conflict has forced millions from their homes, the UN’s migration agency, IOM, is supporting the construction of quarantine shelters, as the region braces for an outbreak of COVID-19 which, it warns, would have ‘devastating consequences’ for those who have been displaced. 

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government and people of Sudan could experience “untold suffering” unless donors act fast to shore up a country still in transition, the top UN human rights official warned on Tuesday.

Sudan’s efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, are delaying the deployment of fresh United Nations police units in Abyei and the border regions between Sudan and South Sudan, the UN’s peacekeeping chief told the Security Council on Tuesday

Lessons learned during the Ebola outbreak in Liberia six years ago are helping the West African country to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) which is working alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) on surveillance and the coordination of contact tracing.

The “exceptional circumstances” of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the peace process in Sudan as well as the drawing down of the United Nations mission there, the head of UN peacekeeping updated the Security Council on Friday.

An upsurge in military action against armed groups in West Africa’s vast Sahel and Lake Chad regions has prompted the United Nations refugee agency to call on all warring parties to protect people caught up in the violence.

Sweeping preventative measures seem to be curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the Great Lakes region of Africa, but the economic impact of the global pandemic threatens hard-won gains made along the long road back to peace and stability, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the region said on Wednesday.

The UN’s human rights chief has been weighing in on recent killings committed by State authorities, or by rogue members of State military forces, emphasizing that all Governments must strictly abide by international law and hold those who serve, accountable for any violations.

With Djibouti’s health system under enormous strain from the COVID-19 pandemic, young migrants in the country are using 3D-printers to make face shields, and ease the shortfall inside medical facilities in the Horn of Africa country.

With only two northern white rhinos left in the world - both female - extinction seems a certainty.

Nigerian Victor Olaiya, who died last month, was a musical pioneer and mentor to the Afrobeat legend.

Ghanaian pair of Lumor Agbenyenu and Baba Iddrisu lasted 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon as they helped RCD Mallorca to cruise past Eibar with a 2-1 win in the Spanish La Liga. In what was a Match Week 27 fixture played at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium, the two Black Stars players were called into action to help their club fight for 3 ma ...

German-born Ghanaian international Kevin-Prince Boateng excelled on his birthday on Friday night while in action for Besiktas as he helped the side post a 2-1 win over Ankarag uuml;c uuml;. The forward who turned 33 on March 6, 2020, was called into action to help his club fight for 3 points against the team rsquo;s Match Week 25 opponen ...

Finally, the day has come for the celebrity couple, Medikal and Fella Makafui finally come together as husband and wife. The speculations and doubts have finally been cleared as photos and videos from the traditional marriage of the couple just hit online. From the pictures and videos seen, all is clear for the traditional marriage to tak ...

This year 39;s independence day celebration held at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Friday March 6 was a rich display of the Ashante culture. The Kente cloth dominated and indeed, Kumasi gave global meaning to the cloth as a fabric for important events as hundreds of people turned up in rich colourful kente clothes to witness the ...

All over the world, women are breaking barriers and constantly showing that when given the needed support and equal opportunity, they can make the world a better place. In Ghana, it is heartwarming to know that by merit, many women have risen to lead key institutions like: the Judicial Service, National Commission of Civic Education, Elector ...

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged the French to limit visits to elderly people who are most vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus. To date, there has been 613 cases in France with 10 deaths. Macron, who shook up his agenda this week to focus on efforts to contain ...

The wait is over and the doubts have been cleared, Medikal and Fella Makafui are set to tie the knot on Saturday 7th March 2020. Fella Makafui had her bridal shower today and her social media accounts have been buzzing. In one of the videos, she rsquo;s seen having a good time with her girls during her bridal shower. We hope it rsquo;s ...

March 7, 2020 (LONDON) – The United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) Thursday released the first-ever alert warning against money laundering by corrupt South Sudanese officials in the British territory.

"The NCA is issuing this alert to companies based in the United Kingdom (UK) about the possibility that some South Sudanese senior foreign public officials (..) who may be engaged in corruption and human rights abuses in South Sudan, and those who enable such activities, may use the UK financial system to move or hide proceeds of corruption or purchase real estate and other assets in the UK," read the statement.

The law enforcement agency called for the collaboration of the UK companies, particularly financial institutions, real estate agencies, accountants, lawyers, notaries, and others to identify suspicious activities by corrupt South Sudanese.

"This report focuses on corrupt South Sudanese senior foreign political figures or PEPs who engage in human rights abuses or violations, and their financial enablers," said the report.

On 6 September 2017, the U.S. Treasury Department alerted the financial institutions about the possibility that certain South Sudanese senior political figures may try to use the U.S. financial system to move or hide proceeds of public corruption.

The U.S. investigation group, The Sentry, released a report in September 2019 to denounce international partners who work with corrupt South Sudanese officials to clean their looted money through the international banking system.

George Clooney and John Prendergast, the co-founders of The Sentry, welcomed the alert of the UK's lead law enforcement agency on South Sudan.

"The UK should be strongly commended for joining the United States in serious efforts to counter the criminal exploitation of the global financial system at the expense of millions of suffering, abused, and displaced people in South Sudan," said Clooney.

"Today, peace in South Sudan is possible, but only if the nations of the world recognize their responsibility to counter the greed-fueled networks that profit from massive suffering and human rights abuse,” added Prendergast.

(ST)

March 7, 2020 (JUBA) - Thomas Cirilo the head of the National Salvation Front (NAS) has cautioned South Sudanese that the formation of the transitional government will not bring peace in the country.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka, the ex-SPLA deputy chief of general staff for training (youtube photo)

On Thursday Cirilo issued a statement to mark the third anniversary of NAS establishment on 6 March 2017.

"The National Salvation Front would like to caution the people of South Sudan on this historic day that the recent political development in the country is not the dawn of peace in South Sudan. I urge you to be vigilant and not to allow yourselves to be deceived," he said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

The opposition leader who rejected the revitalized peace agreement of 12 September 2018 described what is taking place in Juba nowadays as a distribution of positions among the political elite in "total disregard" to the aspirations of the people.

"The R-TGONU cannot address state failures and effect reforms when it is the main beneficiary of these failures," he stressed.

He further pointed out that a sustainable peace can only be effective when the root causes of the conflict are addressed in an credible and inclusive process.

A genuine peace requires to address "the issues of governance, security sector establishment, ethnic domination, justice and accountability, management of the people's resources, and land issues among others," he said.

NAS and its allied holdout groups in the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) have engaged peace talks with the government in a process mediated this time by the religious community of Sant'Egidio.

The government and SSOMA signed the Declaration on the Peace Process in South Sudan on 12 January 2020; and Rome Resolution on Monitoring and Verification of CoHA 2017 on 13th February 2020.

The parties are expected to resume talks after the formation of the revitalized transitional government of national unity.

(ST)