Category: Politics

Gov’t condemns arms embargo, sanctions extension

The Government has condemned and objected to the extension of the arms embargo and ssanctions the United Nations Security Council imposed on South Sudan.

On Tuesday, the 15-member security council extended the arms embargo and sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans for an additional year until 31st May 2024.

It condemned the past and, allegedly, ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by all parties, including armed groups and national security forces.

It said that civil society, journalists, human rights defenders, and humanitarian personnel continued to be targeted.

The council emphasized that the unity government bears the primary responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The Council decided to renew the arms imposed in 2018 and directed all Member States to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale, or transfer of arms to the territory of South Sudan.

In a statement on its official Facebook page on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the renewal of the arms embargo on the country as deplorable.

The statement said the decision ” has not taken into account the significant strides that the Government has made in implementing the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan as well as developmental progress in the country.”

The government said the sanctions affect not only target segments, but the country’s economy as well as the peace and security council was trying to maintain.

However,  praised China, Russia and the three African countries of Ghana, Gabon and Mozambique for abstaining from what it described as unfair vote.

Juba remains committed to implementing the peace agreement and ensure a democratic, free and fair elections  by end of 2024.

” The Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity will continue to redouble efforts to implement R-ARCSS and thereby create a conducive atmosphere for democratic, free and fair elections by December 2024.

 

Civil servants ill informed parliament sabotaged salary increments -Speaker

The national parliament speaker says the lawmakers are being threatened over the delay to deliberate on the increment of civil servant salaries.

“All the members of the parliament have been threatened because of the wrong information going outside that the salary increment budget came to the parliament and the parliament is the one that refused to pass it,” said Jemma Nunu Kumba without naming entities.

According to Rt. Hon. Kumba, unnamed entities got the wrong information that a salary increment budget was tabled before the parliament, but the legislature refused to pass it.

Clarifying the matter, the August House Speaker denied the parliament has received a proposed increment budget.

“This is completely wrong information because we have not received any budget for salary increments in this parliament,

“We started asking since last year and we were told that the increment would be as supplementary budget, but it didn’t come,” she clarifies on the state-own TV SSBC  on Tuesday.

However, she said the national legislature expects the upcoming annual budget in August to incorporate the increment to address the outstanding grievances.

Now we are expecting this coming budget to have this salary increment in the new budget for the year 2023-2024.

The Minister of Public Service and Human Resources in September 2022 presented a revised budget tune of 658 million SSP to increase civil servant salaries.

In December last year, the Cabinet directed the Minister of Finance to prepare an additional budget to cover a new salary structure for government employees.

But these efforts never materialized despite public university employees threatening to lay down their tools due to the delay.

Former president al-Bashir relocated to hospital before fighting began, says military

Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was moved from prison to a military hospital before the outbreak of fighting earlier this month, according to the Sudanese army.

Bashir came to power in a military coup in 1989 and ruled Sudan until 2019, when he was toppled by another coup after large-scale protests.

Following his ousting, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison.

The army said in a statement that Bashir and a number of others had been moved from the Kober prison, near capital Khartoum, to a military hospital under police custody on the recommendation of medical staff.

Questions were raised about Bashir’s whereabouts after a former minister in his government, Ali Haroun, announced on Tuesday that the former president had left the prison with other former officials.

Some reports had suggested that Bashir may have been released during an attack on the prison.

Both Bashir and Haroun are wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged atrocities in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

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