Africa

March 30, 2021 (TORIT) - The Governor of South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria, Louis Lobong Lojore escaped an assassination attempt on the Torit highway on Sunday, his aide confirmed Tuesday.

Eastern Equatoria state governor Louis Lobong Lojore talks to communities in Bari and Omorwo villages (ST)

According to the governor's press secretary Aliandro Lotok, Lobong and the state Minister of Information, Martin Oting Cyprian were attacked on their way to Buya County to meet youth who blocked roads in the area.

The attack on his convoy resulted into the death of two people, one of whom was the wife of the area army commander who accompanied the governor's entourage.

The governor was travelling from Budi County to his native hometown of Kapoeta for talks with members of his ethnic Toposa about the same mission.

No one knows the motive behind the attack, which state officials largely blamed on armed youth from Budi County.

The deputy spokesman of the army, Santo Domic said the situation was now under control and the army had managed to extract the governor from the area in which he restricted movement.

“Because of his safety and safety of his entourage, the governor was advised to go to one of barracks in the area which he did. He spent the night there under our protection. Now he has been extracted”, he told Sudan Tribune Tuesday.

Meanwhile, analysts attributed the assassination attempt on Lobong's life to a recent attack on Lowareng cantonment in which a top military officer from the armed opposition (SPLM-IO) was killed.

As a result, the local youth from Lobong's ethnic group believe the governor was targeted in possible revenge on a high-profile person.

According to previous reports, the routine of intercommunal clashes in many parts of South Sudan prevails due to lack of an efficient justice system in the young nation.

(ST)

Thousands of young Tunisians have been demanding change as they strive to live in and shape the post-revolution dream.

March 30, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Security and Defence Council directed the armed groups, signatory of the Juba peace agreement, to stop the recruitment of new fighters and to withdraw their armed elements in Khartoum.

On Tuesday, the Technical Committee of the Security and Defence Council held headed by the Chief of Staff of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Lt Gen Mohamed Osman al-Hussein a meeting at the Presidential Palace.

In a statement extended to the Sudan Tribune, SAF Military Media said that the committee decided to "stop the political recruitment by the Armed Struggle Movements in the various cities of Sudan until the security arrangements chapter is fully implemented."

Further, the committee decided to "empty the capital and major cities of the manifestations of armed presence," stressed the statement.

In February and March, fighters of some armed groups in Darfur arrived in the capital Khartoum with all their armament and heavy military equipment.

The matter was criticized by the public and raised debate about their presence in Khartoum particularly after the occupation of the Olympic Committee premises.

The leaders of the armed groups that have forces in the capital say it is part of the security arrangements. But other leaders who kept their forces in the cantonment sites in the conflict areas say such deployment is not part of the peace agreement.

According to the peace agreement signed between the government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) groups, the implementation of the security arrangements was supposed to start two months after the signing of the deal on 3 October 2020.

Hadi Idris, a member of the Transitional Sovereign Council and SRF leader on Tuesday directed the security authorities in the Northern State to arrest and prosecute anyone who recruits people in the name of the armed movements.

"The movements that signed the Juba Agreement Peace for Sudan began the preparations for the implementation of the security arrangements to form a unified national army. They did not seek at all to recruit anyone," he added during a meeting with the security committee in the Northern State.

Governor Amal Mohamed Izzaldin welcomed Idris's visit to the Northern State to brief them about the peace agreement and to assess the situation in the region.

She further pledged to implement his directives on the arrest of those who recruit civilians.

During his visit to the Darfur region earlier this year, Idris spoke about the need to restore the state authority and prevent armed fighters from bearing arms outside the cantonment sites.

(ST)

The 2023 electoral process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will mark “a new critical stage” in the country’s journey to democratic transition and stabilization, UN Special Representative Bintou Keita said on Tuesday in her first briefing to the Security Council. 

In a statement released on Tuesday, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has concluded that a 3 January French military airstrike on the central Malian village of Bounty, hit a group largely made up of civilians, killing several of them.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville visits Tarhuna where the victims of years of civil war are being reburied.

Some African countries are witnessing Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy amidst the pandemic.

A glacier in western Uganda is disappearing, endangering the traditions of those who live nearby.

South African Adrian Nel would have celebrated his 41st birthday on 1 April.

The stranded Ever Given container is no longer blocking the canal after being stranded for a week.

Sidney Kombi Kitombo is an award-winning Congolese special effects artist behind Avengers: Endgame.

Mike Sonko was elected governor of Kenya's capital despite a criminal past - and now faces more legal woes.

A herbal practitioner and CEO of Nana Nketia Herbal Center Mr. Paul Nketia also known as Nana Nketia has admonished the government of Ghana to as a matter of urgency assist local farmers to switch from the heavy dependence on chemical farming to a more sustainable organic farming practices.

There appears to be no end in sight in the ongoing destruction of the rich natural mineral resources in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional area, especially Kyebi and its environs. The Kyebi area was first described as the headquarters of illegal mining popularly known as galamsey by former President John Dramani Mahama in the year 2014, after expressing shock to the destruction being caused by illegal miners.

A US-based Duke University report is sending a warning signal to the government of Ghana that, the cost of the proposed aluminum industry projects linked to the Sinohydro agreement would outweigh the potential benefits.

Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has assured Mali that Parliament would assist the current ECOWAS Chair, President Nana Akufo-Addo to restore the country back to democratic rule.

Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA) has noted with grave concern a letter in circulation on social media dated 23rd March 2021 announcing the appointment of Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey popularly known as Abeiku Santana, a broadcast journalist and a failed parliamentary aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as an Ambassador of Ghana 39;s COVID-19 National Trust Fund.

Some South African medics are going to court to seek permission to prescribe Ivermectin to Covid patients.

In Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region there’s deep concern for thousands of Eritrean refugees whose camps have been found burned to the ground, confirming satellite imagery and testimony from those who have fled attacks.

Like 95 per cent of women in her Ugandan community, Margaret Chepoteltel underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) as a child, subjecting her to lifelong health problems. Today, she is raising awareness of the dangers of FGM, as part of a UN-backed programme.