COTONOU (Reuters) - Benin's Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou walked away unharmed after the helicopter he was travelling in crash-landed in the north of the West African nation on Saturday, his daughter said. It was not immediately known why Zinsou's helicopter made the forced landing in the town of Djougou, where he had been due to meet local people. "My father is fine. There were no victims in the helicopter accident in Djougou," Marie-Cecile Zinsou, who is also a member of her father's … [Read more...]
Ethiopian opposition figures arrested over land protests
ADDIS ABABA | By Aaron Maasho Reuters Ethiopian police have arrested two senior opposition members on suspicion of inciting weeks of protests against government plans to set up a new economic zone near the capital that would displace farmers, their party leader said on Friday. The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) says 87 protesters have been killed by police since demonstrations broke out this month in Oromiya region, in the country's worst civil unrest for a decade. On Dec. 15, a … [Read more...]
Somali government bans Christmas celebrations
Reuters MOGADISHU The government of Somalia has issued a ban on Christmas and New Year's celebrations in the Muslim country, saying the festivities "have nothing to do with Islam." "We warn against celebration of Christmas, which is only for Christians," Sheikh Mohamed Kheyrow, director of Somalia’s ministry of religion, said on state radio. "This is a matter of faith. The Christmas holiday and its drum beatings have nothing to with Islam." He said the ministry has sent letters to the … [Read more...]
South Sudan: Former governor arrested
The former governor of Western Equatoria state in South Sudan, Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, has been reportedly arrested by National Security Services. One of his family members said Wednesday that Mr. Bakosoro is being held since Tuesday. According to family sources, Bakosoro had been at the NSS headquarters in Jebel area for a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and as he was leaving after the meeting finished, NSS agents stopped his car at the gate and called him back to them. The agents ordered … [Read more...]
Meet the All-Women Peacekeeping Force of South Sudan
All photos courtesy of Nonviolent Peace force An ongoing civil war has claimed thousands of lives in Africa's youngest state, but the Women Peacekeeping Teams are paving the way for a route out of conflict. by Lucy Draper, Broadly Mary Nyakhan Makuei is 38 years old and has seven children. She lives in Juba, the capital of South Sudan—the world's youngest country and one that has been struggling with a brutal civil war since 2013, just two years after it was first … [Read more...]
Thon Maker begins basketball journey in South Sudan
DAVID DORSEY, DDORSEY@NEWS-PRESS.COM NEWS-PRESS.COM When Thon Maker plays in the NBA, it will mark just another chapter in the making of one epic basketball journey. Maker, a 7-foot-1 center for Orangewood (Ontario, Canada) Athlete Institute, has been described as “an NBA prospect from 200 years in the future.” So the 18-year-old’s destiny to professional basketball’s highest level does not appear to be in question. But, for now, the origin story of Maker remains somewhat of … [Read more...]
Enough Project Founding Director, John Prendergast, Testifies in South Sudan Hearing
Editor’s Note: This blog post was written by Enough Project Intern Amanda Schmitt. On December 10, 2015, Enough Project Founding Director John Prendergast testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, assembling for a session on “Independent South Sudan: A Failure of Leadership.” Expert witnesses included Ambassador Donald Booth, Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan; Bob Leavitt, Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian … [Read more...]
A Roadmap for Peace in South Sudan
As the world's youngest country enters its third year of civil war, there are new hopes for a durable peace. By Daniel P. Sullivan, Foreign Policy in Focus/United to End Genocide. The news out of South Sudan over the past two years has been devastating. And as we mark the beginning of the third year of conflict, the risk of famine and further atrocities remains grave. But not all the news is bad. In 2015, a peace agreement was signed following increased regional and international … [Read more...]
We are with the government on this IGAD plus peace proposal
As the IGAD plus peace proposal on South Sudan had hit a deadlock on the government side. Our position as one of the affected community in South Sudan, is that we supported the position of the government not to sign this flawless peace proposal by IGAD because it's lack the clarity on how to avoid another December 15, 2015, in the near future. The IGAD plus peace proposal has the purpose of creating tribal loopholes and a goal of making the government of South Sudan to collapse. Therefore, we … [Read more...]
“If President Kiir Could have Held His Ground: There Wouldn’t Have Been United States or Regional Boots on the Ground in South Sudan
This article first published on September 17, 2015 Introduction Let me disclose at the outset that the views expressed in this paper are completely mine and should not be attributed to anybody else or entity including the Bor County Diaspora in the United States that I lead but only to me as an individual and citizen of the Republic of South Sudan. I am expressing my views after the fact and I do not think any argument made at this point will change anything on the ground since the “peace … [Read more...]