Author: Our Reporter

  Two South Sudanese ministers have refuted rumours that they plan to resign from their positions in the unity government. David Yau Yau, the Deputy Minister of Defense and Alfred Lado Gore, the Minister of Housing and Land said those claims are unfounded. Yau Yau told the press on Tuesday evening that he went to Pibor to visit his family after meeting President Kiir who granted him permission. The deputy minister further said the National Dialogue is the only solution to South Sudan’s problem. He added that he has a great working relationship with his colleagues at the ministry and…

The SSDM-Cobra Faction defected from the government in September last year with an agenda to fight Kiir’s government. Speaking to Radio Tamazuj today, Khalid said: “We have dissolved the SSDM-Cobra Faction and we have officially joined the National Salvation Front led by Gen. Thomas Cirillo.” He pointed out that all armed opposition groups in South Sudan are conducting consultations to unite their ranks to fight the current government in Juba. Separately, Khalid said the dialogue initiative called for by President Salva Kiir is a trick to blindfold the international community. He accused the government of launching an attack on…

The jagged, ice-capped Rwenzori Mountains stab at the sky above Mpondwe, a bustling border town in western Uganda. Trucks move slowly and one at a time across a rickety metal bridge above the swirling, muddy Lhubiriha River and into the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo where, traders say, profits can be found but fear lurks. “We have no worries here, but our concern is the security over there,” says Henry Bwambale, a 34-year-old business leader in Mpondwe, gesturing to the west. Traders tell of violent highway robbery and worse on the roads to the Congolese towns of Butembo and…

Local officials and activists are reporting that there has been a massacre of Hutu civilians in the village of Kyaghala in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The civilians were attacked, and many beheaded, by militiamen from the Nande ethnic group. “In total 25 people were killed, decapitated by machete by the Mai-Mai Mazembe in and around the village of Kyaghala,” Francis Bakundakabo, the local representative of the governor of North Kivu province, told AFP. The Mai-Mai are a so-called “self-defense” militia composed of members of DRC’s Nande, Hunde and Kobo communities. They stand…

Five members of the East African Legislative Assembly from Burundi will on Monday afternoon be required by the Speaker of the regional parliament to explain why they missed a crucial session without official explanation. Some members of the Burundi delegation were present. At the opening function of the two-week session, when the Speaker Daniel Fred Kidega introduced the Burundian lawmakers, there was length and loud applause for the four who stood up to be recognized. Burundi has nine members of the assembly, but all who are members of the ruling party in Burundi did not show up in…

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda steered clear of discussing sour relations with neighbouring Burundi yesterday in his address to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) even as five lawmakers from Burundi’s ruling party boycotted the opening ceremony of the Kigali sitting. The Rwandan leader said his country’s political will for regional integration was “stronger than ever before” in his address to the Eala session, which started with Burundi MPs from the ruling CNDD-FDD party conspicuously absent. The five MPs had earlier in their letter to the Speaker in January this year threatened they would not attend the sitting in the…

Democratic Republic of Congo’s Catholic Church that has been the force behind mediation talks between the government and opposition, has called for patience before resumption of the talks over a power-sharing agreement The secretary general of the Congo’s National Episcopal Conference (CENCO) Abbot Nshole, told AFP, “We are not yet at the plenary stage of the talks.” Adding that the Church elders recommend all the parties to work together in order to make progress. The talks focus on a power-sharing plan agreed on December 31, which calls for president Joseph Kabila to leave power after the next election supposed to be…

The European Union on Monday warned the Democratic Republic of Congo it faces more EU sanctions if political and military leaders block a deal with the opposition on the country’s future. European Union foreign ministers discussed DRC amid growing frustration with President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand aside at the end of his term late last year. “The EU reminds political leaders and members of the security forces that it is ready to adopt new restrictive measures,” said the text of DRC conclusions prepared for the meeting. The asset freeze and travel ban sanctions would target those “responsible for…

Democratic Republic of Congo’s Catholic Church that has been the force behind mediation talks between the government and opposition, has called for patience before resumption of the talks over a power-sharing agreement The secretary general of the Congo’s National Episcopal Conference (CENCO) Abbot Nshole, told AFP, “We are not yet at the plenary stage of the talks.” Adding that the Church elders recommend all the parties to work together in order to make progress. The talks focus on a power-sharing plan agreed on December 31, which calls for president Joseph Kabila to leave power after the next election supposed to be…