Diaspora – Page 3 – Sudans Post

Ugandan troops attack village in Eastern Equatoria killing 2 SSPDF

October 29, 2020 BY TOR MADIRA

Eastern Equatoria state in red [Photo via Wikipedia]

TORIT – A group of soldiers belonging to the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has attacked a SSPDF garrison at a village in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state killing at least two soldiers before walking away with their bodies, according to a lawmaker.

John Ochan, a member of South Sudan Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) representing Eastern Equatoria state, said the attack took place on Tuesday, when a group of UPDF soldiers attacked a SSPDF outpost at Poke village after crossing to South Sudan.

“A number of Ugandan army soldiers illegally crossed to South Sudan and attacked Poke village where the South Sudan People’s Defense Force is having a outpost. There, they killed two soldiers and this is because out troops were not aware of any attack. They were surprised,” he said.

The lawmaker further said the UPDF soldiers took the bodies of the two South Sudan soldiers and walked away with them, urging the army in Juba to seek way out of continued Ugandan attack against territories of South Sudan.

“They then walked away with the bodies of our soldiers,” her said.

“What I want is to urge the army in Juba to end this illegal Ugandan army activities because it is becoming a concern to our local population in the areas bordering Uganda,” he added.

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Sudan, South Sudan reopen borders for the first time in 9 years

October 28, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

South Sudan’s defense minister Angelina Teny speaking during a ceremony to reopen Sudan-South Sudan borders in Kosti, Sudan [Photo by Sudans Post]

KHARTOUM – The governments of Sudan and South Sudan have for the first time in nine (9) years reopened their borders after a high-level security delegation from South Sudan visit Khartoum this week, according to the ministry of defense.

Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel, the SPLA-IO deputy spokesman and defense ministry spokesman, said in a brief social media statement that the Upper Nile-White Nile state border crossing point was reopened during a ceremony in Kosti on Tuesday.

“On 27/10/2020, the Minister of Defense & Veterans Affairs Hon Angelina Jany Teny and her Sudanese Counterpart Hon. Yassin Ibrahim led a High Level delegations from South Sudan and Sudan to witness the long awaited official reopening of the borders between the two sisterly Countries in Kosti, White Nile State,” the defense ministry official said in the statement.

Borders between Sudan and South Sudan were shut up in 2012 following the Heglig crisis which saw South Sudan armed forces, the SPLA-IO, taking over Heglig, a disputed border town near Unity state, for almost one week in April that year.

In September the same year, the two countries signed the Cooperation Agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, providing for the reopening of the two countries’ borders, but the agreement has never been implemented.

Following the outbreak of South Sudanese civil war in December 2013, hundreds of South Sudanese civilians fled to Sudan to seek refuge.

Earlier this month, Sudan’s President of the Transitional Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah al Burhan said during the signing of the Sudanese peace agreement in Juba that South Sudanese will no longer need visas to visit Sudan.

This is in line with the cooperation agreement which guarantee Four Freedoms: “freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to acquire and dispose property.”

President Salva Kiir has also ordered the implementation of the four freedoms.

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Arab League chief praises South Sudan efforts to achieve peace in the region

October 28, 2020 BY STAFF WRITER

Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Abu Algheit (left) meeting South Sudan minister of higher education Gabriel Chanson Lew Chang in Cairo on Saturday, October 24, 2020 [Photo by Arab League]

CAIRO – The Arab League’s Secretary-General Ahmed Abu Al-Gheit has praised efforts by South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, to achieve peace in the region during a meeting on Saturday with South Sudan’s minister of higher education Gabriel Changson Lew who was in Cairo last week.

“Abu al-Gheit conveyed to the Minister his greetings to the President of South Sudan, Lieutenant General Salva Kiir Mayardit, and expressed the League’s pride in the distinguished relations that it has with the government of the State of South Sudan, praising as well the role played by South Sudan in supporting security and stability in the region, especially through its sponsorship of the Juba peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese armed movements,” the Arab League statement seen by Sudans Post read in part.

Changson for his part, according to the statement, “conveyed President Kiir’s greetings and appreciation to the Secretary-General, and praised the appreciated support provided by the League and its member states to South Sudan and his efforts to build the foundations of security, stability and development.”

“The minister also expressed his aspiration to maximize aspects of Arab cooperation with South Sudan, especially in the field of scientific and academic exchange, building the self-capacities of South Sudan, qualifying universities and higher education institutions in South Sudan, and providing more scholarships for South Sudanese students.”

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SPLA-IO soldiers in Unity state accused of ‘robbing’ refugees crossing to Sudan

October 27, 2020 BY STAFF WRITER

An opposition soldier seen in Bentiu in 2014 [Photo via Getty Images]

BENTIU – Soldiers belonging to South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLA-IO, who are stationed along the Sudan-South Sudan border are reportedly mistreating citizens crossing to Sudan for refugee and medical visits.

Speaking to Sudans Post this morning, a South Sudanese who arrived in Keresana from Bentiu on Saturday last week said troops loyal to General Simon Maguek Gai, the commander of SPLA-IO’s forces in Unity state, robbed him along with others who crossed with him from Bentiu to Heglig over the weekend.

“Now I am speaking to you in Keresana, here in Sudan. I came from Rubkona (Bentiu) last week on Saturday and when I crossed, they are there robbing and taxing people and they took my money all,” the South Sudanese refugee said on condition of anonymity.

“I was coming to Sudan to seek treatment because there are no better medical treatments in South Sudan. The money I came with have been taken on the road by the SPLA-IO soldiers and now I am stuck in Keresana waiting for my relatives to send money from Rubkona,” he said, adding that “I don’t know when they will send the money given the situation I left.”

Other South Sudanese in Kosti also told Sudans Post that they experienced similar treatment by the SPLA-IO soldiers with one person saying he was taxed for 6000 SDG to be allowed to enter Sudan by the opposition forces.

“This is true and this is alarming because this is not what they should do. They said they are freedom fighters and their cause should be to protect us, and not to take out money. To arrive her in Keresana where my children are, they took 6000 SDG from me for what they said is permit to Sudan,” he said.

“This is very bad and the leadership of [SPLM] IO should bring to account those doing this illegal practice,” he added.

Sudans Post could not independently verify the claims, as calls to SPLA-IO deputy spokesman were unsuccessful.

Many SPLA-IO soldiers are station along the Sudan-South Sudan border.

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S. Sudan’s defense, interior and foreign ministers visit Khartoum

October 26, 2020 BY TOR MADIRA

South Sudan’s defense minister, Angelina Teny, flanked by her interior and foreign affairs counterparts, speaking to reporters before departing Juba airport for Khartoum airport on Monday evening [Photo by Sudans Post]

KHARTOUM – South Sudan’s ministers of defense, Angelina Teny, interior, General Paul Mayom Akec, and foreign affairs, Beatrice Khamis Wani, have this evening arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, according to a defense ministry media official.

Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel, the SPLA-IO deputy spokesman and the press secretary for the ministry of defense said in a brief statement seen by Sudans Post that the senior government officials were accompanied by the army chief, General Johnson Juma Akot, Inspector General of Police, General Majak Akec, and military intelligence chief, General Riing Tueny.

Lam did not clearly stated reasons for the visit.

“Today 26/10/2020, the Minister of Defense and Veterans’ Affairs, Hon. Angelina Jany Teny led a High level delegation of RTGONU composed of the Minister of Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, CDF, IGP, Chief of MI and other dignitaries to Khartoum on National duties,” Lam said in the statement seen by Sudans Post.

“The delegation arrived safely in Khartoum and were well received by their counterparts at Khartoum International Airport,” the statement added.

Although the reasons for the visit remains unclear, Sudan is one of the guarantors of peace and the country had at one point pledged to support the training of South Sudan’s would-be unified national army.

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Egyptian Prime Minister says country will invest millions in South Sudan

October 26, 2020 BY STAFF WRITER

South Sudan water minister (left) meeting Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouly (center) in Cairo on Monday [Photo by ministry of Water Irrigation]

CAIRO – Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly has told South Sudan’s minister of irrigation Manawa Peter Gatkuoth that his county will invest millions of dollar in different projects in the world’s youngest country.

On Monday, Minister Manawa who is on a two-week visit to Egypt met the Egyptian Prime Minister to discuss bilateral relations between South Sudan and the North African Arab country.

Nader Saad, Spokesman for the premier, said “Madbouly lauded distinguished and deeply-rooted relations binding the two countries. Madbouly called for accelerating steps to form a high committee grouping the two countries.”

The South Sudanese official praised Egypt’s support of South Sudan during the floods crisis and the airlift it launched to offer urgent humanitarian assistance to the victims of the floods.

He said South Sudan is keen on enhancing cooperation with Egypt and benefiting from its expertise in the capacity building domain.

He voiced hope to open a branch of any Egyptian bank in South Sudan soon.

He lauded Egypt’s establishment of industrial schools in South Sudan, a school that brings qualified cadres that meet the needs of labor market.

For his part, Manawa also thanked the Egyptian Higher Education Ministry for increasing the number of grants offered to South Sudanese students to study in Egyptian universities.

He hoped for drawing on Egypt’s expertise in building new cities in record time, saying a delegation of the Housing Ministry will pay a visit to Egypt soon to stand on the underway housing projects.

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South Sudan defeats Chad at AfroBasket’s 2021 qualifiers tournament

October 26, 2020 BY AGENCIES

Chad defeats South Sudan at AfroBasket 2021 qualifiers [Photo by FIFA]

CAMEROON – With Cape Verde having sailed through to the Qualifiers of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021, the South Sudan-Chad matchup was without great stakes but the South Sudanese made sure they came out in hot red form.

South Sudan confirmed their loss to Cape Verde was behind them with a strong start in the first quarter as Teny Bak and Emmanuel Malou ran the court with flashes of brilliance to ensure a 26-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Ronald Kolmia hit double digits by the second quarter but couldn’t prevent South Sudan from widening the point gap to 16 as the Central Africans trailed 48-32 at half time.

Teny Bak hit a game high 17 points with Bol Bak chipping in 12 points while Emmanuel Malou and Ngor Kuany each contributed 15 points as South Sudan thumped Chad 100-69 to end the three-nation FIBA invitational tournament with a win.

Ronald Kolmia’s team high 16 points, Moussa Taguina’s 12 points and Yayangar Ndeta’s 10 points counted for nothing as Chad recorded their second defeat in the competition.

“We were wayward,” Chad’s coach Abdoulaye Nodjimadji said during the post match press conference.

“The guys played hurriedly and nothing worked out well for us in this tournament. The spirit is just different and there’s frame of mind that when you come into a tournament with, you just can’t win.

“I just hope this can spur Chadian authorities to invest more in the sport because we can do better.

“We couldn’t organize our local championship and we came in with players who weren’t as fit as we thought.

“Whatever happened on the court is a translation of what’s going on off court. We have talent but for us to get results we need to work more.”

For South Sudan, the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers Invitational Tournament was the second tournament the country was appearing in and a victory against Chad is foretelling of good fortunes.

“We are a young team and these players haven’t played together for long but we are very happy with what they were able to do,” South Sudan’s coach Ajou Deng told FIBA.basketball.

“We want to continue to grow and improve. We are a young federation but the goal is to continue building this team and paying more attention to the youth categories.

“It was good that we won this game, it is a good thing heading forward for the next generation. This is actually something we can build on heading into the future.

“Overall I’m happy with these kids and I think they did just what was expected from them. We didn’t get it right this time around but if we can maintain such resilience then we will accomplish some great things,” he concluded.

Courtesy of two wins, Cape Verde advanced to the Qualifiers of the FIBA Afrobasket 2021 where they will be facing Egypt, Morocco and Uganda in Group E in November in Alexandria.

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Egypt to open Alexandria university branch in Tonj by April next year – Changson

October 25, 2020 BY STAFF WRITER

South Sudan minister of higher education Gabriel Changson Lew Chang (left) signing a number of agreements with his Egyptian counterparts on education in Cairo on October 24, 2020 [Photo by Sudans Post]

JUBA – South Sudan’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Gabriel Changson Lew Chang has said that he and his Egyptian counterpart have agreed, during a meeting in Cairo on Saturday, to open the long-awaited Alexandria University branch in Tonj next year.

More than ten years ago, then Government of Southern Sudan and Egypt agreed to open a branch of the Alexandria University in Tonj of South Sudan’s Warrap state.

The plan has since remained without implementation owing to logistical issues.

Speaking to Sudans Post during an exclusive interview in Cairo on Saturday, Changson said he and his Egyptian counterpart have agreed on several areas whose implementation, he said, will begin with formation of a six-member committee from both sides to work out the matrix of implementation.

“The implementation we have also included in the memorandum of understanding that a six-person committee will be formed. Three from each side to follow up the implementation of this agreement,” he said.

“We will, as soon as we go back, work out a plan for the implementation including the matrix of implementation,” he added.

Changson also revealed that the Egyptian government has agreed to open a branch of Alexandria University in Tonj next year which he said will help many students enroll in their home-state of Warrap.

“We also agreed on teh opening of Tonj Branch of Alexandria University in April and this university or this plan has been in book for more than ten years and now we want to activate it and that university will also enroll a number of South Sudanese students,” he said.

The senior government official also revealed that the Egyptian government has agreed to increase the volume of scholarship vacancies that it annually offers to South Sudanese students.

“The purpose of our visit is to review the agreement between our two ministries in term of increasing the size of scholarship which we did from 300, no it will be 400 scholarship,” he said.

“Out of 400, 300 will be undergraduates and 100 will be post graduate. That is MA, Masters’ Degrees and PhDs. Then we also agreed to improve the conditions of students that are studying here in Egypt in terms of providing accommodations for them, health insurances providing two-way tickets each year and also we agreed those who are studying on their own should have a waiver of tuition fees of all the expenses pertaining to their studies to teh turn of 90% and they will only be paying for 10%,” he further added.

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Interview: S. Sudan minister says Egypt agreed to increase scholarship vacancies for S. Sudanese students

October 24, 2020 BY STAFF WRITER

South Sudan Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Changson Gabriel Lew Chang, speaking minutes before he signed a memorandum of understanding on education with his Egyptian counterparts in Cairo on October 24, 2020 [Photo by Tor Madira Machier/Sudans Post]

CAIRO – South Sudan’s minister of higher education, Gabriel Changson Lew Chang, has said during an inclusive interview with Sudans Post on Saturday in Cairo, that Egyptian government has agreed to increase undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships for South Sudanese students.

Below is the full interview with Changson.

Q1. Since your appointment as minister of higher education, you haven’t come to Egypt and your predecessors have had rare visits to this part of the continent, what does this visit means now?

Answer: Well thank you for the interview. This visit is very crucial for ministry of higher education science and technology of the Republic of South Sudan we are trying to transform the higher education institution so that their capacity is raised to the extended that they can deliver the serviced needed by the republic of South Sudan from them. This visit was facilitated through an invitation given to us by the ministry of higher education and scientific research of Egypt. So we utilized this opportunity to come and discuss issues pertaining to scholar they used to giver to our students since 1972. And as a result of this visit, we discussed and agreed on a number of issues which we finalized today by signing a memorandum of understanding containing all the new improvements we are putting on the scholarship.

Q2. It is very important that you have mentioned the issue of the scholarship. A lot of students here have been complaining that some scholarships meant for South Sudanese students have, at some points, been sold out by embassy staffs to foreigners. So, is there any investigation that you are going make regarding this issue?

Answer: That is not the purpose of our visit. The purpose of our visit is to review the agreement between our two ministries in term of increasing the size of scholarship which we did from 300, no it will be 400 scholarship.

Q3. For undergraduate?

Answer: For both. Out of 400, 300 will be undergraduates and 100 will be post graduate. That is MA, Masters’ Degrees and PhDs. Then we also agreed to improve the conditions of students that are studying here in Egypt in terms of providing accommodations for them, health insurances providing two-way tickets each year and also we agreed those who are studying on their own should have a waiver of tuition fees of all the expenses pertaining to their studies to teh turn of 90% and they will only be paying for 10%.

Q4. So what will be the time-frame for the implementation of all these bilateral agreements.

Answer: The implementation we have also included in the memorandum of understanding that a six-person committee will be formed. Three from each side to follow up the implementation of this agreement. The 100 scholarship that are given , will be implemented this year and then the committee’s first meeting will be in April next year in Juba. We will, as soon as we go back, work out a plan for the implementation including the matrix of implementation. We also agreed on teh opening of Tonj Branch of Alexandria University in April and this university or this plan has been in book for more than ten years and now we want to activate it and that university will also enroll a number of South Sudanese students.

Q5. So the Tonj Branch of Alexandria University is going to be opened in April 2021?

Answer: Yes.

Q6. My last question is about the effects of COVID-19 on the South Sudanese students studying in foreign countries not only in Egypt. The high-level taskforce that was previously led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar had pledged about 3 million Dollars for students abroad. Some of these funds haven’t arrived and in countries like Egypt and Sudan, the money that were meant for each student haven’t been given fully, so is there going to be any resolution for this?

Answer: What I know is that there was 2 million dollars that was released to cater for the requirement of students in light of COVID-19 in Ethiopia, in Zimbabwe, in Sudan, in Egypt, and also in Morocco. That money I think was paid to the taskforce and was not administered by the ministry [of higher education]. I tried to ask whether it was paid through the minister and they said ‘no’. So we don’t have any information about how it was distributed. The remaining balance which is 1 million we have tabled a request to the ministry of finance so that they are given as promised. We are also in discussion with the authorities in Egypt and Morocco that when the Universities are opened, they are treated like students of that country and they will be also be under that protection.

Q7. Minister Gabriel Changson Lew Chang, thank you for attending this interview and I wish you safe journey back to the Republic of South Sudan.

Answer: Thank you.

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Two Israeli diplomats arrive in Sudan as talks of normalization near – foreign ministry source

October 21, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Benjamin Netanyahu wants Israel’s parliament to protect him from prosecution [Photo by Oliver Weiken/dpa]

KHARTOUM – Two senior Israeli diplomats have arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Wednesday evening after Sudan reportedly consented to normalization of ties with the Jewish state, according to a foreign ministry source.

The Sudanese diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was ‘not allowed to talk to the media on the matter’, said the unnamed Israeli diplomats, along with their aides, were accompanied to Khartoum by one Emirati diplomat and a Saudi security officer.

“This evening, two officials from the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs arrived in Khartoum. They [came]together with a foreign ministry colleague from [United Arab] Emirates and a security official from Saudi [Arabia],” the source said.

“They will stay here and they will return tomorrow (Thursday) night and a lot about the process (normalization) will be discuss so that as soon as the US delist our country from terror designation, we will then publicly announce talks to begin,” the official added.

The foreign ministry declined to publicly comment on the alleged visit.

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