Lou-Nuer communities ready to handover their guns to authorities JUBA, 19 March 2012 – Chiefs from the Lou-Nuer communities have expressed their readiness to handover their guns peacefully to the authorities in response to the comprehensive disarmament exercise all over Jonglei state.
Last week South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, launched the disarmament process in Jonglei state’s capital, Bor, and authorized the deployment of 15,000 troops and police to carry out the exercise. The exercise started in Bor town with the governor Kuol Manyang Juuk as the first person to hand over his two rifles to the disarming forces commanders, Lt. Gen. Kuol Deim Kuol and Major General Peter Gatdet Yak. More than 4,000 illegally owned rifles are already collected from the civil population inside the state’s capital, and the disarmament is continuing in the other payams of Bor community. On Sunday the country’s Vice President, Hon Dr Riek Machar Teny, visited Akobo County and Uror County, urging the two major Lou-Nuer communities of Mor and Gon sections, respectively, to handover their guns peacefully and expeditiously. Dr Machar was accompanied to Lou-Nuer counties by the state governor Kuol Manyang Juuk, national ministers in the security sector and state ministers and MPs from Jonglei state as well as the defense minister, John Kong Nyuon and the SPLA Chief of General Staff, James Hoth Mai. Chiefs from the both sections of the Lou-Nuer community commended the deployment of the forces to collect the guns from the civil populations. The chief of Uror county was the first to hand over his PKM machine gun and all its ammunitions to the Vice President, saying the rest of his people were also ready to hand them over when the process begins soon. The chiefs however criticized the government for not protecting them after their guns were collected twice, leaving them vulnerable to the Murle armed community. They also asked for assurance from the government to make sure that the Murle community is fully disarmed, informing that the Murle are not in their villages but living in the jungle with their arms. Dr Machar passed condolences to the people of Akobo for the last week’s attack by the Murle which killed 303 people mainly women and children, according to the report presented to him on Sunday by the Akobo County’s commissioner, Goi Jooyol. Dr Machar assured that the army and police deployed all over Jonglei state will carry out the disarmament and will stay in Jonglei as long as it takes to make sure that all the communities are disarmed. He urged all the communities of Jonglei state to learn to live together in peace and harmony as the same people of South Sudan. “South Sudan is a nation of different tribes and should learn to interact peacefully and love one another,” he told them. He told the chiefs to make sure that all the weapons each person or household illegally owns are handed over, warning them not to only handover one and keep the other hidden. He also warned the civil populations against resorting to violence with the organized forces, but should cooperate in the disarmament process which he said will afterwards bring in development to the state. Reported by James Gatdet Dak, Vice President’s Press Secretary VP underscores the importance of safe storage of fire arms and ammunition JUBA, 19 March 2012 - The Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan Hon. Dr. Riek Machar Teny has stressed the importance of safe storage of firearms and ammunition in the country if people are to minimise the dangers associated with poor storage of arms and ammunitions. In his opening remarks at a one-day workshop on the management of arms and ammunitions at Home and Away Business Centre organised by the Bureau of Small Arms Control, Dr. Machar said that the workshop has come at the right time as the government is engaged in disarmament of the civilian population. He added that once the population is disarmed, there will be need to safely store the arms and ammunitions using the best internationally recognised standards. He further said that safe storage of arms and ammunitions would prevent damage from un-intended explosion due to unsafe storage facilities. He cited the 2005/6 incidents were explosions occurred in the then general headquarters of the Sudan Armed Force in Juba which he said was a serious security scare. “If we establish safe storage facilities, we can avoid explosions like what happened in 2005 and 2006 in then SAF general headquarters in Juba. These incidents can be so dangerous to the population”, he said. He lauded the bureau for having conducted a fact-finding assessment and said the facts of the assessment would help to improve the storage of firearms and ammunitions in the country. Dr. Machar called on the bureau to involve the private security companies as they also carry arms. He mentioned KK Security and the VSS, among others. The workshop was attended by regional and international participants. Reported by Matata Safi Ministry of Agriculture holds value chain training of trainers JUBA, 19 March 2012 - Ever wondered what your best resource is? Well if you are still guessing, it’s you yourself. This was the strong message at the closure of a five-day workshop on value chain organised by GIZ, a German organization in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at the Juba Grand Hotel in Juba over the weekend. Speaking at the closurer of the workshop, Mr. Afeworki Yohannes, a consultant in value chain development told the participants that the aim of the workshop was to equip them with knowledge and skills so as to make the most needed change in society. “Human resource development is the best resource”, he said. Mr. Yohannes explained that value chain approach to agriculture links and connects input providers, farmers, processors, traders and final consumers of agricultural products so as to increase and improve production that subsequently would result in increased income for the farmers. He stressed that talking of value chain means tackling the need to transform farmers from purely subsistence farming to a more commercialised type of farming so that farmers can take farming as a business. He said one of the questions that the workshop answered is capacity building. Mr. Yohannes explained that value chain is a new approach in South Sudan and that GIZ which is the key supporter of the project is nearing its projected time frame. He therefore said to have sustainability on the project, there is need to transfer knowledge to the local people or experts so that they can spread the skills to others by conducting more trainings. “This Training of Trainers was organised with the mindset that when the project comes to an end, the concept of value chain must continue”, said Mr. Yohannes. He said due to the importance of value chain in agriculture, the University of Juba has taken the initiative to include value chain development in the curriculum such that the future graduates of agriculture may be aware of value chain program and take it forward. “This country has massive opportunities given the fertile arable land, good rainfall, the Nile River, hardworking people. All that is needed is to maximise the effects and develop agriculture”, said Mr. Yohannes. He further observed that agriculture, if well tapped, can sustain the economy of the new country and oil could only be a boost. Meanwhile the representative of GIZ Sanyangi Wangi lauded the participants for their tireless efforts adding that GIZ has given them the “starter”. “The skills and knowledge that you have acquired here must be a starting point for you, put them into practice and will yield results”, said Wangi. The workshop was attended by farmers, cooperatives experts who are consultants with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at both state and national levels, representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Juba University representatives. The participants were awarded certificate of attendance. Reported by Matata Safi President launches disarmament operation in Jonglei state BOR, 14 March 2012 - The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the SPLA Forces H.E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit has officially launched disarmament operations in Joglei state in a special ceremony organized by the SPLA General Headquarters on Monday 12th March 2012, in Bor football stadium. The operation is known to be a very difficult task and about fifteen thousand SPLA forces are prepared to carry out the task under the command of Lieutenant General Kuol Diem Kuol, the SPLA Deputy Chief of Staff for Ooperations. And the operation will take a quite long time until it is confirmed that the civilian populations of the state are all disarmed. In his key remarks when launching the operation, President of the Republic called on the citizens of Jonglei state not to resist the operation, cooperate and facilitate the mission of the disarmament forces. He directed all the state assembly members, executives to go down to their respective constituencies and enlighten their people in the grassroots on the importance of the operation. President of the Republic urged all the top political, military and community leaders to hand over their guns to the disarmament authorities. H.E Kiir directed the disarmament operation forces not to use force in the operation, respect human rights and avoid tribalism spirit in the operation. Meanwhile, the governor of Jonglei state Lt. Gen. Kuol Manyang during the launching ceremony gave his own guns to the commander of the operation Lt. Gen. Kuol Diem Kuol, and by this he became the first South Sudanese top leader to hand over his fire arms voluntarily. He strongly urged the leaders in the state to do the same, saying that his security is in the hands of police forces. On his part the minister for Defense and Veterans’ Affairs Gen. John Kong assured that the operation of the disarmament will be conducted peacefully, and will not be bloody as it was stated by some people. The SPLA Chief of General Staff Gen. James Hoth Mai announced to the public when addressing the ceremony that fifteen thousand SPLA and other organized forces will participate in the operation, and the forces are going to be distributed in one same time into three hubs in Jonglei state. Gen. Hoth said the operation will be carried out successfully through a collective effort between the executives and legislatures with the help of the UN. Gen. Hoth declared that everyone who violates human rights during the operations will face military justice. Inspector General of Police, General Acuil Tito urged the disarmament operation forces to carry out the operation responsibly. He called on the youth and civil society organizations in the state to cooperate with the forces for the success of the operation. RSS receives grant from the World Bank to boost private sector development JUBA, 14 March 2012 - The Republic of South Sudan today signed a grant agreement of US$ 9 million with the World Bank to help create jobs and increase access to finance for entrepreneurs. Hon. Kosti Manibe Ngai, the national minister for Finance and Economic Planning signed the agreement on behalf of the government of the Republic of South Sudan whereas Luara Kullenberg, the Bank’s Country Manager signed for the World Bank. “This intervention supports the much needed economic diversification of the economy by promoting private sector development in the non-oil sector”, said Hon. Ngai. Reported by Matata Safi Students finding difficulties in Juba can now go to Khartoum JUBA, 14 March 2012 (NASS) – The minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Prof Peter Adwok Nyaba has today announced that the South Sudanese students facing difficulties to study in Juba can from go to Khartoum. Prof Adwok announced this today while briefing journalists on what happened in his recent visit to Khartoum. Addressing the journalists at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting conference hall, Prof Adwok said they signed a memorandum of understanding with Khartoum to adequately cater for those who want to study in the Republic of Sudan. The minister explained that the MoU signed will allow the South Sudanese Arabic oriented students to study in Khartoum without any problem. He as well said the MoU allows the young nation’s students who were transferred to the new formed Bahri University after the relocation of both Juba and Upper Nile universities to graduate with the certificates of those who admitted them. He added that the South Sudanese students who are supposed to finish in Khartoum will continue with the tuition fees they were paying previously. “Arrangements are underway to send a team from the government of South Sudan to provide passports to the students studying in Khartoum so that they are regularized”, said Prof Adwok. He also disclosed that Khartoum has offered scholarships to South Sudanese who are interested to study in the north. However the minister strongly warned South Sudanese Arabic oriented students to take English very serious since the country’s official language is English underlining that they will have a problem with work in the future. The minister said 7000 South Sudanese students are still in Khartoum because of education. Reported by Martin Jada Gabriel, News Agency of South Sudan (NASS) South Sudan has huge agricultural potential JUBA, 14 March 2012 - The Republic of South Sudan has a huge potential in agriculture that the government is embarking on especially after the temporary shutdown of oil production Hon Atem Yaak Atem the deputy minister of the national Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said. Briefing a delegation from the Federal Republic of Germany led by the country’s ambassador to South Sudan Peter Felten, Hon. Atem said South Sudan like many African countries whose economies rest mainly on agriculture, has good arable soil, receives enough rainfall and above all river waters that the government is directing its energy on. Hon. Atem added that South Sudan has the potential to become the food basket of the region. Hon. Atem said what needs a shift is the culture of only growing crops in small scale to only feed families. The deputy information minister told the German delegation that the government is working to resume production in the old schemes like Aweil rice scheme, and the sorghum production in Upper Nile among others. The deputy minister further said another potential area of agriculture is fisheries. He noted that the industry is still struggling because production is still being carried out with traditional methods. He said the Nile River that runs across the country has a lot of fish. He mentioned Terekeka in Central Equatoria and Bor in Jonglei being the main local market suppliers of fish. He urged investors to invest in the fishing industry. “The government is encouraging foreign investors to partner with it to unlock some of these potentials the country has”, said Hon. Atem. He announced that in line with this Juba will on the 20th of March 2012 host an international investment conference. However, Hon. Atem stressed the numerous fronts of service delivery that the new country is facing. He said what the country needs at the moment is assistance to come out of the effects of the long war. “We can stand on our own once we have solid foundation of systems that can ease the delivery of services and development”, said Hon. Atem. Hon. Atem listed the urgent areas of attention as health which he said is faced by limited doctors, limited health facilities that, he said, are at times ill-equipped. He said another area of concern to the government is the education sector. He explained that due to the long civil war, many South Sudanese took refuge in northern Sudan and a great number went to East Africa with two different languages being used as the medium of instruction. The languages were English in East Africa, while Arabic in Khartoum. He said that has been affecting most of the returnees coming from North Sudan since South Sudan has adopted English to be the official national language. To address this he said there is need to have a unified system of education. In addition to this he said the minister for Higher Education in the government of the Republic of South Sudan made a successful trip to Khartoum a week ago where the government in Khartoum has accepted to receive South Sudanese students who would want to complete their studies in the various universities in Khartoum. He said the two governments agreed that the students from the South will pay normal tuition fee like any other student from north. Reported by Matata Safi -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
