President Salva Kiir appealed to East African member-state caught in conflicts and tensions to deescalate and address their disputes amicably to maintain peace in the region. Continue reading Kiir urges Great Lakes region to find amicable solution to conflicts
Category: National News
National News
Police fire live bullets to break up wounded heroes protesting delayed dues
Police on Wednesday morning fired into the air to disperse a group of protesting wounded soldiers who gathered outside the Finance Ministry premises in Juba to demand for their dues.
National government Spokesperson Michael Makuei whose office is adjacent to the Ministry of Finance, stated that there were no injuries from the police action toward the protesting soldiers.
While sited in his office, Mr. Makuei said ” I was just surprised to hear the shooting. I am in the neighborhood of the Ministry of Finance, and when the clashes happened, they occurred right here in front of my ministry.
He who described the incident as a common occurrence added that “the wounded heroes have been doing this all the time, making demands to the Ministry of Finance instead of going to the Ministry of Defense.”
The minister advised that the wounded soldiers direct their grievance to the Directorate of Wounded Heroes and Heroines, which is responsible for them.
“Whatever they need is supposed to be brought by the directorate to the Ministry of Finance; it is not for them as individuals to come and follow up on things.”
An Eyewitness who spoke to Eye Radio via WhatsApp gave an account of how the clashes transpired:
“I was in my office just a few minutes ago when I heard a loud commotion outside. When I went to investigate, I saw a large crowd.
“Upon inquiry, I learned they were wounded soldiers or a similar group. A few minutes later, police were brought in to disperse the gathering due to overcrowding.
“As they were not allowing people to enter the Ministry of Finance, shortly after, the situation escalated, and with the police becoming forceful, and an exchange of stones ensued between them and the wounded soldiers.”
When contacted, the spokesperson of the SSPDF confirmed that the wounded soldiers had gone to the Ministry of Finance and Planning to present a petition to demand for medical allowances.
“What had happened this [Wendnesday] morning, it was that representatives from wounded heroes went up to the ministry finance to go and present a petition on the need for their medical allowance to be released,’ he said.
Major General Lul Ruai says the leadership would work to expedite the release of their medical allowances to enable them to access the necessary medical treatment.
“That was the reason, and the leadership at the ministry and government in general assured or reassured them they will work around the clock so that their medical allowances are released for them to go for medical treatment.”
General Lul said the situation is now calm as the protestors left back to their places.
Ministry of Health, partners roll out yellow fever vaccine in WES
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with aid agencies has initiated a reactive Yellow Fever vaccination campaign as part of preventive response to the disease outbreak in Western Equatoria State in December 2023.
In a statement on Tuesday, WHO said as of 3 February 2024, 48 suspected and two confirmed Yellow Fever cases were reported from Yambio, Nzara, Tambura, Ibba, Ezo, and Maridi Counties of Western Equatoria State.
“To address the outbreak, a multidisciplinary team of epidemiologists, public health officers, entomologists, laboratory specialists, and risk communication experts conducted an extensive epidemiological investigation to characterize the extent of the outbreak, identify risk/exposure factors and implement control and prevention measures,” Dr Yolanda Awel, the National Health Minister has said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Dr Humphrey Karamagi, WHO Representative for South Sudan says: “This reactive measure aims to protect populations at high risk and act as a bridge towards integrating the yellow fever vaccine into routine immunization systems.”
According to WHO, Yellow fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes, poses a significant public health threat.
Its symptoms include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue, and can lead to severe complications with patients succumbing within 7 to 10 days.
CES Insurance Authority boss downplays Dept Mayor bribery remarks
A dispute has emerged within the leadership of Juba City Council as Deputy Mayor Thiik Thiik Mayardit has accused his boss and Central Equatoria Commissioner-General of Insurance Regulatory Authority of taking bribes and reversing his decision to close down UAP Insurance company.
Last December, Deputy Mayor Mayardit ordered the closure of UAP Insurance after it failed to reinstate 10 terminated staff who went on strike due to poor working conditions.
Mayor Flora Gubriel revoked the order, instructing the company to resume operations.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Thiik Thiik alleged that Latio Ramba, Commissioner-General of the Central Equatoria State Insurance Regulatory Authority took bribes from UAP Insurance.
He also claimed that Rama did not active role in addressing the concerns of laid-off South Sudanese workers and was behind Mayor Flora’s decision to rescind the closure order.
Thiik Thiik further accused Ramba of favoring the interests of South Africans and Kenyans at the expense of South Sudanese citizens and urged Governor Emmanuel Adil to dismiss him.
The deputy Mayor threatened he would release damning bribery reports concerning the UAP saga.
“The Insurance Regulatory Authority which is chaired by Latio Ramba is the one I am going to talk very bad about, because he is the one who received the bribery and lead down the people of South Sudan.
“He was the one who gave pressure to the Mayor and the Governor that the South African Embassy and government are on the neck of the people of South Sudan,” he said.
Meanwhile, Commissioner General Latio Ramba denied the accusations made by Deputy Mayor Mayardit, describing them as unfounded.
Ramba stated that the allegations are baseless and stem from ignorance.
“Those are unfounded allegations but it’s upon the leadership to see and to measure how true it is.
“But the issue of bribery I don’t know exactly how and why, you might have asked the manager,” he said.
Ramba also also refuted claims that he had traveled to Kenya to meet with Kenyans and South African officials to resolve the dispute with UAP.
Ramba said Deputy Mayor Thiik Thii Mayardit acted without consulting the Mayor and national Ministry of Labor, describing his behavior as an insubordination.
“The Insurance Authority doesn’t have any power to engage and resolved issues to do with the Labor, but it is the national ministry in coordination with state ministry of labor.
“So, the accusation is political nothing else and of course he has the behavior of subordinating his supreme including the Mayor.
“Imagine he went in the morning, and he took it personally by emotion because one of the staff dismissed was his relative. So closed down a company and this company is licensed by the laws of the Republic of South Sudan.
“So, he went to closed down the company without consulting the Mayor, without consulting myself and without event consulting the Governor or the national Ministry of Labor.”
When contacted by Eye Radio for comment on Monday and Tuesday, Mayor Flora Gabriel of the Juba City Council that she was engaged in a meeting with the state leadership over the matter.
4,000 child soldiers reintegrated in past eight years -UNICEF
The United Nations’ children agency (UNICEF) has supported the government in reintegrating over 4000 children over the past seven to eight years, according to chief of Child Protection.
“In the last seven or eight years, we have supported the government of South Sudan and the DDR commission in particular in reintegrating over 4000 children, ” said Brendan Ross during the commemoration of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers on Wednesday in Juba
He, however, said the agency has taken note that there are children involved in intercommunal violence, gangs and are moving to very dangerous lives in South Sudan
He said there is need for partners to work together in not only ending child recruitment in the formal sense, but also making sure children are continuing safe childhoods outside of war and the conflict.
“We also want to take note that there are children involved in intercommunal violence, there are children involved in gangs and children moving into very, very dangerous lives here in South Sudan.”
“We need to work together to make sure that we are not only ending child recruitment in the formal sense, but also making sure children are continuing safe childhoods outside of the war and the conflict.”
Ross added through the efforts of the police force, Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Ministry of Defense, and the SSPDF, they can create an environment that is conducive for safety of children.
“We need to make sure through the efforts of the police force, through the efforts of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, through the efforts of the Ministry of Defense and the SSPDF, that we’re creating an environment that is conducive for safety,” he added.
Magwi man burns wife, 4 stepchildren to death
A man on Sunday set a family on fire killing four children and their mother in Amee Boma of Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria state, according to a criminal investigator.
Onen George Jalduong who is the County Crime Officer told Eye Radio that the man he did not disclose his name, torch a grass thatch house during Sunday’s wee hours while the children and their mother were asleep.
“In regard to the incident, a man set fire to the house, the suspect is currently in custody. The victims include five individuals – four children and their mother,” he said.
The motives behind the arson attack are unknown, but Jalduong says the unnamed suspect believed to be in his thirties who attempted to flee has been arrested following a prompt police response and is under investigation.
“When the incident occurred, police officers and security personnel promptly responded to the scene, managing to apprehend the suspect who had attempted to flee.
He added that “despite the distance, law enforcement successfully transported the individual to custody without encountering any problems.”
Head Chief of Iwire Payam in Magwi County confirmed the incident to Eye Radio on Monday morning.
“He came from Amara to Amee Junction, then at night he went to the home while they (the woman and the children) were sleeping and set fire.
“When a woman in the neighbor saw the fire, and whole house engulfed by fire, she screamed for help, then a boy nearby tried to rescue those people but it’s too late.
“Yesterday morning, the police and civil defense force went there, and they confirmed that four children plus the woman died. The name of the deceased mother was called Mary and the person who committed the crimes is called Okeny,” he narrated the incident to Eye Radio.
Alleged serious harassment of Gondoroko locals under investigation
The ceasefire monitoring body, CTSAM-VM says it is investigating serious allegations of civilians’ harassment especially the actions of some SSPDF units in Gondokoro in Juba County.
In its technical committee meeting Wednesday morning, the body said some of the harassment of civilians by military forces.
But “one of the more serious allegations concerns the actions of some SSPDF units during a disarmament exercise in Gondokoro.”
CTSAM-VM said it work to write violation reports so that remedial action can be taken, and those responsible can be held to account.
“Although CTSAM-VM continues to investigate a number of allegations, some of which involved the harassment of civilians by military forces, one of the more serious of these allegations concerned the actions of some SSPDF units during a disarmament exercise in Gondokoro.
“CTSAM-VM writes violation reports so that remedial action can be taken, and those responsible can be held to account. CTSAMVM is concerned that one of the reports we will discuss today concerns another killing of unarmed civilians by SSPDF soldiers.
“Four out of the nine reports we discussed at the last meeting concerned similar incidents; the SSPDF must review the training of its soldiers and take action to stop these tragic occurrences.
Arround mid-January, the Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs apologized for what he terms as mistakes that occurred during the December 2023 disarmament exercise in Juba County.
The disarmament operations that kicked off on Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the capital and its surroundings have since been mired with allegations of harassment and displacement of civilians.
On 31st December 2023, local chiefs in Gondokoro Payam of Central Equatoria State said armed forces stormed the area and assaulted the villagers during the disarmament exercise in the area.
Four traditional authorities were reported arrested and detained at an army base for days before they were released.
The disarmament force later announced that it recovered 300 firearms including heavy machine guns in Gondokoro.
However, a local chief refuted the allegations, arguing that only five guns were collected.
Suspect arrested over poaching at Nimule Game Park
The Director General of Wildlife says a man has been arrested for allegedly killing an elephant at the Nimule Game Park recently.
A photo surfaced on social media on Tuesday of an elephant reportedly killed at the park.
When contacted by Eye Radio on Wednesday morning Khamis Adiang, the Director General of Wildlife said he learnt about the incident on Tuesday.
According to Adiang, the incident was not the first of its kind, and that tracing the poachers have been very difficult as they often flee across the River.
“…you will not get anybody because they run away and cross the river,” he said.
However, Adiang said a suspect was arrested after he was found in possession of an ivory, a tail and hide of an elephant.
Adiang adds that the suspect will help the authorities trace the network of the poachers.
“It’s an indicator that through him, we can trace the network and be able to arrest the poachers,’ he added.
Mr. Adiang said the institution has strengthened measures to safeguard the animal species within the park.
In March, 2023, a mobile court in Nimule town of Eastern Equatoria State two men were convicted by high court for killing the elephant at Nimule Park.
Convicts Atheib Osmane and Carlo Ali were fined to pay an amount of 250,000 South Sudanese pounds each or face a five-year jail term.
Poaching is rampant in South Sudan despite efforts to combat the vice -something the authorities have attributed to the proliferation of firearms among the citizens.
UNMISS alerts govt on suspicious ammunition jetted into Juba
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan says it has alerted the government of undeclared ammunition being transported into Juba by a contingent from troop contributing country.
In a press release to Eye Radio’s newsroom , the mission said “the 16 boxes of ammunition were included amongst cargo on a charter flight which landed in Juba on 6 February 2024.”
It said the ammunition was not declared on the manifest that had been “provided to and cleared by the Government of South Sudan.”
UNMISS says the contingent did not advise UNMISS that it intended to transport ammunition.
However, when the ammunition was discovered while the cargo was being unloaded in Juba, the mission immediately informed all relevant authorities within the Government of South Sudan.
“I would like to underscore that UNMISS itself took immediate action to alert the South Sudanese authorities to this regrettable incident as soon as we became aware.
“It is important to be open and honest in these situations, and the mission is now working closely with the Government to address this issue,” said Nicholas Haysom. the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS.
According to UNMISS, the matter will also be raised with the troop contributing country for further action.
Activist calls for quick probe into widespread inter-communal clashes
Activist Edmund Yakani is calling on the political leaders to expeditiously investigate the cycle of violence in some parts of the country.
Since the beginning of the new year, Eye Radio has been reporting disturbing stories of revenge attacks, killings and injuring of people in many parts of the country.
This is more especially in Abyei Administrative Area, Warrap, Lakes and Western Bahr el Ghazal states.
“I would like to take this opportunity to urge the political leadership of the Country at National and State levels where communities are engaged in armed deadly violence to take proactive role in preventing this growing trend of deadly armed communal violence, said Yakani.
Early this week, Western Bahr el Ghazal government said unspecified dozens of people, including high-ranking police, army, and national security officers, were killed in a fresh attack in Jur River County.
Last weekend armed attacks in Abyei Administrative Area claimed more thatn 15 lives.
This occurred a week after 53 people including a UN peacekeeper were killed in an attack in the several locations in the restive Abyei region.
Last Wednesday, nearly 40 people were killed, and dozens of others wounded on Wednesday during inter-communal fighting between the bordering communities of Luayjang in Warrap State and Pakam in Lakes State.
Many incidents continue to unfold with the latest being in Wau town of Western Bahr el Ghazal State that left three young men dead last night.
Yakani the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization is also appealing to the Interior, Defense and National Security Ministers to launch a quick investigation into the incidences.
“I wish that the Ministries of Interior, Defense and National Security as well as State governors who are witnessing these violence commission conduct quick investigation into these growing trend of armed violence in the region of Bahr el Ghazal region.
‘Not also forgetting the deadly violence that are taking part in some parts of Jonglei State especially Duk and what happened recently in Akobo. But also not ignoring the situation that is growing to become more of Insecurity in Kajokeji County,” he said.