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(Khartoum) - The South Sudan Democratic Front Party says it will mobilize other political parties in southern Sudan to sue the National Elections Commission for denying Sudanese in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia a chance to register as voters in the general elections.Cross-posted to Sudan Watch and Uganda Watch and Ethiopia Watch
In an interview with Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Monday, the Chairman of SSDF Party, David de Chand, said it is against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the National Elections Act to deny Sudanese living abroad a chance to exercise their rights to vote.
[David de Chand]: “Nowhere it is mentioned in the CPA that those in Nairobi, Kenya or Uganda and Ethiopia should not be allowed to vote. I think the right to vote is a democratic right guaranteed to every citizen by the constitution and it is an unalienable right to all people. We the political party leaders would also go to the NEC to challenge such a statement and they will have to prove to us beyond reasonable doubt. If not, we can file a case before the Constitutional Court to challenge such a statement. Why should southern Sudanese refugees in Kenya, Uganda and in Ethiopia be denied their legitimate right to be registered?”
De Chand said that if the National Elections Commission fears that non-Sudanese may register to vote as southern Sudanese, it should allow the United Nations to undertake the exercise abroad.
He urged southern Sudanese to register to vote in the elections next year because it is a step towards the possibility of self-determination offered by the 2011 referendum.
CAIRO - Leaders from China and Africa start a three day summit on Sunday that will again throw the spotlight on Beijing’s strategic sweep for energy, minerals and political influence in the continent.Cross-posted to:
China has over the past decade paid for dams, power stations, football stadiums across Africa and scooped up copper, oil and other fuel for its breakneck economic expansion from Algeria to Zimbabwe.
It has invested billions of dollars while raising eyebrows in the United States and its allies by pursuing the hunt for oil and other resources in Sudan, Somalia and other nations that the West has shunned.
Many African leaders praise China however for not preaching about rights and corruption. So despite neo-colonialist qualms, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao can expect a warm welcome from Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and finance and foreign ministers from 50 countries when the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation starts in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday.
FOCAC is held every three years and this will be the fourth since it started in 2000.
Ever-eager for raw materials and markets to sell its products, China has said the new meeting will lay down a “road map” to further boost cooperation between 2010 and 2012.
Direct Chinese investment in Africa leapt from $491 million in 2003 to $7.8 billion in 2008. Trade between the two has increased tenfold since the start of the decade.
Last year, China-Africa trade reached $106.8 billion - a rise of 45 percent in one year and on a par with with the United States, which estimated its two-way trade with sub-Saharan Africa at $104 billion for 2008.
Chinese imports from Africa last year were worth $56 billion, dominated by oil ($39 billion) and raw materials.
Its $56 billion of exports in 2008 consisted mainly of machinery, electrical goods, cars, motorbikes and bicycles.
Some in the West have accuse China of worsening repression and human rights abuses in Africa by supporting countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe.
US intelligence director Dennis Blair told a Congress committee in March that US agencies are keeping close tabs on China’s expanding influence in Africa, especially in oil-producing countries like Nigeria.
The Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative has become a registered UK charity after creating a unique 'hands-on' approach to development and poverty eradication over the past eighteen months.Cross-posted to:
The Charity Commission approved the application from this relatively new organisation, which is underpinned by the belief that good governance and sustainable development are key to poverty eradication in the long term.
Tony Blair, founder of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), said:
"I'm extremely proud of our excellent project teams who are working in partnership with the governments of Rwanda and Sierra Leone to reduce poverty and develop new opportunities for growth.
"It is a privilege to work with leaders as talented and as committed to their people as President Koroma and President Kagame who represent a new generation of leaders in Africa with a commitment to building a new future for their people.
"The developed world needs to keep up its commitment to Africa expressed at the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles. But lasting change in Africa will only come in the end from African solutions. By building the capacity to create sustainable long-term development through good governance and providing high level advice, we have already started to help deliver that change.
"And it won't stop here. Whilst developing our work in Sierra Leone and Rwanda, we want to launch new projects with other countries, sharing our knowledge, experience and expertise. We want more countries to develop sustainably, paving the way to a prosperous future.
"This work has reinforced my optimism about Africa's future, as well as my conviction that governance and growth are the key ingredients to effectively reduce poverty across the continent."
Commenting on Tony Blair and the work of the Africa Governance Initiative, Ernest Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, said:
"Mr. Blair has demonstrated an enduring commitment to Sierra Leone and its people. The work comes at a critical stage in Sierra Leone's development. I believe together we have an opportunity to ensure that Sierra Leone puts in place the policies, people and institutions to achieve real and lasting change."
Commenting on the work of AGI, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda said:
"What I would like people to know is that the type of partnership we have with Tony Blair is totally different from the type of consultancy people are used to. We work in very strong partnerships whereby not only gaps are filled where they exist, but there's also the notion of transfer of skills, mentoring, actually doing things that are measurable such that over a period of time, we will be able to know what kind of impact was made."
NAIROBI, Oct. 29, 2009 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday called on the people of Sudan to respect the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which was inked in Nairobi in January 2005, ahead of their country's elections.
Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka also urged the Sudanese to always give priority to matters pertaining to the CPA if they have to overcome the challenges facing them and realize lasting peace.
"Reality is almost coming to Sudan because of the CPA. I am sure people of Sudan are working hard towards rebuilding their nation," Musyoka told journalists in Nairobi after holding talks with visiting southern Sudan President Salva Kiir.
He said Kenya will continue to facilitate and give the necessary impetus to the process, noting that a peaceful and prosperous Sudan is great importance for Kenya.
The CPA is a set of agreements signed in January 2005 between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA) and the government of Sudan.
The agreement was meant to end the second Sudanese civil war, develop democratic governance countrywide and share resources.
He hailed the cordial relations between southern Sudan and Kenya and assured that the two sides would continue working together to strengthen the bilateral ties in several fields.
Kiir, who is also the first vice president of Sudan, thanked the government of Kenya for the role it is playing in the search for peace and stability in Sudan.
"The government of Kenya has made the investment for peace through Inter-Governmental Authority Development (IGAD) not only for the people of Sudan but the whole of Africa," Kiir said.
The southern Sudanese leader said his country was facing many challenges, especially now that it was heading for elections.
Kiir praised Musyoka for having worked tirelessly as mediator towards peace in Sudan, especially when he was the foreign affairs minister and assured him that they will do everything possible to protect CPA.
The southern Sudanese leader arrived on Tuesday and has since held meetings with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
During his meeting with Kiir on Wednesday, Odinga stressed that the government was committed to upholding good relations with neighboring countries to ensure that peace co-existence prevailed in the region.
He reiterated on the government's determination to see the implementation of the Kenyan brokered peace pact between southern Sudan and the government of Sudan.
"Kenya as the principle Guarantor to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) wants to see the implementation of the accord to the letter as the African Union and UN seeks amicable solution to the Darfur conflict," Odinga said.
During the meeting, Kiir said the Sudanese people wanted to foster harmonious coexistence with their neighbors to promote bilateral ties in the region.
He told the press conference that the amicable resolution to the cross-border conflicts between communities could only be realized when affected countries conducted a regional disarmament exercise.
Editor: Deng Shasha
Nairobi (Kenya) — Kenya has stepped up security near its border with Sudan after reports of clashes between police and Toposa pastoralists.
The General Service Unit, Administration Police and regular police are said to have engaged a combined force of Toposa militia for the second day running on Sunday.
The fighting is reported to have taken place at Nadapal, five kilometres inside Kenya. Some Kenya Army personnel are also said to be on the ground to give backing in case they are issued with orders.
Scores of people have fled Nadapal area towards Lokichogio, some 25 kilometres away following the fight which began on Thursday.
The Kenyan security team, led by Lokitang police boss Ngonya Waigonya and Turkana West district officer Eric Wanyonyi, has denied claims that 16 Kenyan soldiers had been shot dead by the Toposa militiamen.
Mr Waigonya said the Kenya security forces have been involved in an operation to flush out criminals along the Nadapal-Lokichogio highway who have been terrorising motorists and local residents.
"There were exchange of fire between our security forces and the Toposa militia but no fatalities were reported on our side" said Mr Waigonya.
It was reported at the weekend that 16 Kenya Army personnel were killed by the Toposa raiders at the Nadapal Barracks on the Kenya-Sudan border.
Nadapal has remained a contested area, with both countries claiming it. This has triggered frequent clashes.
According to Riam Riam peace network coordinator Joseph Elim, the Toposa established an army barracks near the Nadapal border point in order to give them full access to grass and water on the Kenyan side.
He said more than 10 people had been killed and more than 11,000 animals stolen in the last two months following attacks by Toposa raiders.
