President Kiir meets Ban Ki Moon YOKOHAMA, 3 June 2013 - President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the margins of the TICAD conference yesterday on 2nd June, 2013, met with the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon. The meeting mainly centered on the relations between Juba and Khartoum, the situations in Jonglei state and issues of the SPLM North and Abyei area.
Mr. Ban appreciated H.E Kiir for the steps his government has taken to consolidate peace in the country. Mr. Ban promised to bring engineering corps from his country, South Korea, to help the young nation of South Sudan. H.E Kiir shakes hands with Mr. Ban when they met in Japan. [Photo: Thomas Kenneth] The UN Secretary General expressed sadness on the killing of the Abyei Chief by the Misseriya militias. He urged President El-Bashir to meet the SPLM North face to face next month in Addis Ababa and look for amicable solutions to the SPLM North issues. According to Hon. Emmanuel LoWilla, the minister in the Office of the President, H.E Kiir told Mr. Ban during the meeting that the SPLM North issues need to be addressed politically and that the Abyei issue is being made difficult by President El-Bashir by not allowing the formation of Abyei institutions to conduct the Referendum. Reported by Thomas Kenneth from Yokohama, Japan TICAD 5 ends with Yokohama Declaration YOKOHAMA, 3 June 2013 - African and Japanese leaders have wrapped up their 3-day meeting in Yokohama City, south of Tokyo, by adopting a declaration to promote foreign investment in Africa. The 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 5), ended on Monday morning. Japan co-hosted the conference, attended by the leaders from about 50 African nations. Delegates discussed trade, investment and security, among other issues. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the talks had given rise to a determination among participating nations to move forward hand in hand. He said there was renewed hope for growth in Africa. The Yokohama Declaration calls for cooperation to achieve accelerated growth, sustainable development and a reduction of poverty in Africa. It pledges to improve legal systems and infrastructure to encourage private foreign investment. The declaration also calls for an increase in vocational training to provide the skills needed for jobs. It ensures a commitment to advanced agricultural technologies to boost food production. The leaders adopted an action plan to meet the declaration's goals. The plan sets a target of 6-percent growth for Africa's agricultural sector and a doubling of its rice production by 2018. The declaration appreciates the Government of Japan for the contribution of $550 USD million in support of humanitarian assistance in Africa. Reported by Thomas Kenneth from Yokohama, Japan President Kiir addresses TICAD 5 YOKOHAMA, 2 June 2013 - President Salva Kiir Mayardit addressed the second session of the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development today, as the conference continues its session in the second day on peace and stability. H.E Kiir said South Sudan is committed to resolving all conflicts in Africa and facilitate the realization of an Africa which is free of conflicts by 2020. He added that South Sudan is also committed to maintaining peace and stability and ensuring security both across and within the borders with Sudan. President Kiir also thanked many friends, including Japan, for receiving tremendous support and said Japanese peace keepers are doing a credible job in South Sudan and has expanded their operations from being peace keepers to maintaining the infrastructure. He commended the Japanese peace keepers for increasing their operations to new areas in Eastern and Western Equatoria states. President Kiir told the conferees that the lives of peace keepers in the country were put into risk by rebel attacks. He said that the government is doing its best to bring the situation into normalcy. “The government working with the civil society organizations has initiated the process of national reconciliation and healing as a way of consolidating peace in South Sudan”, President Kiir said. He called on the Japanese government to support the process. Reported by Thomas Kenneth from Yokohama, Japan Belgian investors urged to build road to DRC JUBA, 2 June 2013 (NASS) - The minister of Information and Broadcasting who is also the official government spokesperson, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, last week urged a Belgian investment mission to consider investing in the construction of a road to Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He described the construction of the road as a priority and of strategic importance to South Sudan. He said this is one of the projects agreed upon earlier by the Belgian government during the liberation struggle to help connect South Sudan to the neighboring DRC and the rest of the world. According to Dr. Benjamin, this road is expected to open up South Sudan for international trade especially oil export via the Atlantic Ocean. The minister said this while addressing a conference in Juba attended by nearly twenty giant companies from across Belgium and top officials from the national government especially the ministries of Roads and Agriculture. He also urged the investors to consider venturing in wild life, animal resources and mining. In his remarks during the conference, the minister of Roads and Bridges, Gier Chuang Aluong called on the Belgian investors to also consider the roads connecting the ten states. “Let the road coming from the airport to the ministries not deceive you, we don't have roads; only the 192km road from Nimule to Juba is tarmacked,” he said. The minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Cooperatives, Betty Achan Agwero stressed the need of roads in accessing agricultural products. She said there are so many agricultural products in the states which find it difficult to reach markets. On his part, the representative of the Belgian Chamber of Commerce, Maurice Veermeesch pledged to assist the government of South Sudan to transform the new nation. Reported by Martin Jada Gabriel, News Agency of South Sudan (NASS) South Sudanese officers graduate from Kenya’s National Defense College JUBA, 2 June 2013 - Two South Sudanese officers Brig. Gen. Chol Biar Ngang and Brig. Gen. Gatwech Yiech Ruom were among the 41 high ranking military officers drawn from different African countries who graduated from the National Defense College (NDC) in Kenya. This was the 15th batch of graduands since the inception of the NDC. The NDC is sponsored by the Kenya Defense Force and is charged with the responsibility of developing and improving the intellectual capacity of senior military and government officials on broader dimensions of security issues in order to think globally but acting nationally. This is based on the understanding that national security is no longer viewed through military lenses, but has expanded to a multi-dimensional facet in meaning. According to Lt Gen J N Waweru, the NDC is affiliated to the University of Nairobi and that among the participants 15 were enrolled in Masters, 17 were working on Diplomas and 9 were undertaking certificate courses. The participants have acquired necessary decision making skills after they completed 48-week curriculum. Hon. Rachael Omamo, Kenya’s Minster of Defense also emphasized the importance of the course by mentioning some of the high ranking government officials who are alumni of the NDC. She cited example of Kenya and the important position the NDC graduates held in the government. Brig. Gen. Chol Biar Ngang (middle row), one of the two South Sudanese graduands follows the proceedings of the ceremony. She said that Africa is faced with many challenges that need strategic thinkers and intellectual minded people to tackle. She cited lack of peace and harmony in African countries as one of the challenges that needed to be resolved through such approaches. She thanked the friendly countries that have sent and maintained their participants in the college. “This has enabled our staff in the college to carry out their duties effectively to impart skills and knowledge to the participants”, she added. Hon Omamo commended the increase in the number of female participants saying that, “the number of female participants has increased fairly than in other batches” and encouraged all the friendly countries to consider gender balance when selecting the participants. Among the participants witnessed the graduation were ambassadors from different African countries and members of diplomatic corps. South Sudan was presented by Amb. Majok Guandong and Maj.Gen. Juac Dau Diing, among others. Madam Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, Advisor to the President of the Republic of South Sudan on Human Rights and Gender was also present. Reported by Joseph Garang Deng from Nairobi, Kenya Minister criticizes Human Rights Watch’s report on WBG skirmishes JUBA, 2 June 2013 (NASS) - The minister of Information and Broadcasting, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin has denounced as unfair a report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on the violence in western Bahr el Ghazal State last December. He said the report is one-sided and leaves out information from official sources at the national and state governments. The minister made the remarks on Friday after getting detailed briefing from the Governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Rizik Hassan Zachariah. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported that the citizens who took to the streets of Western Bahr el Ghazal where shot by the state government while holding a peaceful demonstration. According to the governor, the government intervened in the demonstration because the demonstrators became violent. He explained that during the incident, the demonstrators were using guns, burned the office of the local government and even raped a mother of six children. He urged the two organizations to correct the reports to show some degree of impartiality. Reported by Martin Jada Gabriel, News Agency of South Sudan (NASS) Press release from the NSS on CTV's false allegation JUBA, 1 June 2013 - Please click the hyperlinks below to read a press release from the Director General of the National Security Service (NSS) denouncing the false accusation by the Editor-in-Chief of Citizen Newspaper and CTV that a security officer threatened CTV at gunpoint. Page 1 :: Page 2 African development conference kicks off in Japan YOKOHAMA, 1 June 2013 - The three-day day fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 5) kicked off today on June 1st, 2013 in Yokohama City of Japan under the theme: “Hand in Hand with a more dynamic Africa”. The TICAD 5 was organized by the Japanese Government in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank, to discuss a high level policy on African Development with concentration on sustainable Economic Development, Peace and stability and dialogue with private sector. H.E Kiir in a general photo with the AU, UN and Japanese leaders in Japan. [Photo: Thomas Kenneth] President of the Republic H.E Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit accompanied by a high-level delegation and other African geads of state and governments are participating in this development conference. The opening session was addressed by the Prime Minister of Japan H.E Shinzu Abe, the Chairperson of the African Union H.E Haile Mariam Desalegn, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon among other leaders. TICAD 5 kicks off in Yokohama Japan. [Photo: Thomas Kenneth] The AU Chairperson H.E Desalegn in his key remarks described the conference as of historic significance to Africa-Japan partnership adding that Japan is the only country that has taken the initiative of mobilizing the international community to support development in Africa through the TICAD forum. President of the Republic H.E Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit is expected to address the conference on peace and stability tomorrow on 2nd June, 2013. Reported by Thomas Kenneth from Yokohama, Japan H.E Kiir meets Japanese PM YOKOHAMA, 31 May 2013 - President Kiir and his delegation today at Intercontinental Conference Hall in Yokohama City met the Prime Minister of Japan H.E Shinzu Abe. President Kiir shakes hands with the Japanese PM. [Photo: Thomas Kenneth] During the meeting President Kiir expressed sincere gratitude to the Japanese PM and his government for the tremendous developmental activities Japan is doing in South Sudan and in the African continent at large. President Kiir said the role of JICA in developing infrastructure of South Sudan is commendable and has a lasting impact. H.E Kiir and delegation in a meeting with Japanese PM. [Photo: Thomas Kenneth] The Japanese Prime minister H.E Shinzu Abe on his part congratulated President Kiir for his tireless efforts in the nation building and he welcomed him together with the other African leaders who are working together with Japan on development projects in the continent. Reported by Thomas Kenneth from Yokohama, Japan President Kiir in Japan YKOHAMA, 31 May 2013 - The President of the Republic H.E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit arrived in Yokohama Japan on Thursday, leading a high-level delegation from the Republic of South Sudan to participate in the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-V). Hon Nhial Deng Nhial the minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Gen. Oyay Deng Ajak, minister of National Security and Hon Garang Diing, minister of Commerce and Industry besides a number of other senior government officials and representatives of the business community made up the delegation accompanying the President to the conference. H.E Kiir and the delegation meeting the Toyota team. [Photo: Thomas Kenneth] In the margins of the TICAD-V in Yokohama City, President Kiir and the delegation met on 31 May 2013 met the Chairman of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Mr. Junzo Shimizu and his deputy Mr. Yasuhiko Yokoi and General Manager for Energy Infrastructure Project Department 1, Mr. Hideyuki Oiwa. The meeting focused on the building of the pipeline from South Sudan to the Lamu Port in Kenya. Toyota Japan has expressed the interest to build the proposed pipeline and has carried out the feasibility studies and is ready to begin its construction. According to the minister of Commerce and Industry Hon Diing, President Kiir reiterated the commitment of the government to cooperate with Toyota Tsusho Corporation in the construction of the pipeline. On his part, the Chairman of Toyota Corporation, Mr. Shimizu said Toyota is operating in 54 African countries and has 30,000 African employees. He further reported Toyota has completed the feasibility study for the construction of pipelines in South Sudan and has handed over the relevant reports to the government. Reported by Thomas Kenneth in Yokohama - Japan “Sudan is committed to implementing the Cooperation Agreement” Ambassador JUBA, 31 May 2013 (NASS) -The Sudanese Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan Dr. Mutrif Sadiq has reiterated his country’s commitment to fully implement the September Cooperation Agreements it has signed with the government of the Republic of South Sudan including the agreement on Oil. Dr, Sadiq made the remarks on May 30, in Juba the Capital of South Sudan after a meeting with South Sudan’s Petroleum and Mining minister Hon. Stephen Dhieu Dau. Ambassador Sadiq and Petroleum minister Dheiu [photo: by Yang Bang Deng] Responding to questions by the press, Dr. Sadiq refuted media reports that his country had tried to hamper flow of South Sudan’s oil from Unity State’s oil fields through Helgig pipeline about two weeks ago. He said "there was only a technical problem" with the pipeline which he said the pipleline engineers were able to rectify later. Hon. Dhieu who commented the efforts of the Sudanese diplomat reaffirmed South Sudan’s commitment to closely work with the government of Sudan to ensure the full implementation of the agreements it has signed with the later. The meeting, he said discussed issues of bilateral relations and cooperation. Reported by Yang Bang Deng( NASS) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14or5nkhJ8MarkYFL4Dqx5pY0Vf%2BKOGOvRfHEcK2D326%2BWQ%40mail.gmail.com?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
