Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour 18 Dec 2009

Further details at rogueking.com

Great expectations in Uganda over oil discovery

Uganda is on course to become one of the top 50 oil producers in the world. But will the proceeds change the lives of the country's poorest?

From the Katine Project*, guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Great expectations in Uganda over oil discovery
By Richard M Kavuma

When Martin Eceku, 62, from Katine, in north-east Uganda, found out that oil had been discovered on the country's western border, he says the find could reduce transport costs in the region. And if jobs are created in the oil industry, perhaps children from the sub-county could head west for work. He recalls the period of Kenya's post-election violence in early 2008, when fares for the 30-km journey from the health centre in Katine to the nearest town of Soroti town shot up from UShs 2,000 to UShs 10,000.

Eceku, who suffers chronic chest pains, has not made the connection between oil, government revenues and how it has the potential to improve his life, and that of the poor service delivery in much of rural Uganda. This financial year, Katine's budget for developmental activities works out to be around $2.30 for each of the estimated 30,000 residents. The main Tiriri health centre is under-staffed and often suffers shortages of essential medicines.

But it's a connection that is being made many Ugandans.

Economically, these are interesting times for the 30 million people living in Uganda.

In October 2006, Uganda confirmed it had struck oil, after more than 80 yeas of official suspicion.

The president, Yoweri Museveni, who once described himself as "not a very religious person", held a national prayer ceremony where he thanked God "for having created for us a rift valley 25 million years ago", and the successive layers of vegetation that had turned into good quality petroleum. The president also thanked God for giving "us the wisdom and foresight to develop the capacity to discover this oil".

Three years later, on October 9, as Uganda marked 47 years of independence from Britain, Museveni's national address was less about God and more about his certainty about the future.

"No one, in Uganda or internationally, can now doubt the country's steady and deliberate path to a middle-income country status in the near future," he said in Kampala. "This is more so with the reasonable discoveries of oil, which, without any doubt, will accelerate our progression to middle-income country status… With the recent discoveries of oil in western Uganda, the country's prospects for domestic revenue and self-reliance in financing public investments and programmes are much brighter today than any other time in the past."

Museveni's buoyancy is well-founded. Exploration companies have confirmed hundreds of millions of barrels of oil in the Albertine Graben region – some 23,000sq km along Uganda's border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Officials from Tullow Oil, the most dominant of four companies with exploration licenses, recently revealed that their find alone – 800 million barrels – could yield more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day for anywhere between 15 to 30 years. Given that exploration has so far covered only a third of the Albertine Graben area, a senior government geologist recently told the government-owned New Vision newspaper that Uganda's extractable deposits should be in excess of 2 billion barrels.

Uganda currently needs only 11,000 barrels of oil per day, which means there would be a lot of potential to export.

Tullow officials estimate that at present prices, Uganda's oil would be worth some $2bn per year, which amounts to around two-thirds of the country's budget for the current financial year.

And with the Italian oil Eni announcing last week that it is buying a stake in two exploration blocks in the country, predictions are now that Uganda could soon become one of the top 50 oil producers in the world. Click here to read full story.

*What is the Katine project?

The Katine project

The Guardian is tracking Amref's three-year development project, in partnership with Barclays, to improve the lives of the 25,000 people in Katine sub-county in Uganda. We'll explain where donations go, how aid works, and how lives are changed
Contact us: Katine.editor@guardian.co.uk

Uganda blames South Sudan officials for President Salva Kiir's plane crash scare

The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, has finally returned home several hours after the plane he was traveling in narrowly escaped a crash.

Salva Kiir, Wednesday morning survived a plane crash, as he was returning home to Sudan from Uganda, after one of the tyres of the plane in which he was travelling burst.

Report from Sudan Tribune, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 12:51:
Sudan 1st VP safe after plane accident in Uganda

November 25, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese first vice president Salva Kiir survived an accident today that was caused by the rupture in one of the tires on the plane he and his delegations were boarding, Ugandan media reported.

However the foul play was ruled out. The incident brings back bitter memory on the death later SPLM leader John Garang who was killed after his helicopter crashed en route from Uganda.

The pilot managed to steer the plane away from hitting the trees which was almost certain to cause harm to the passengers.

The government of Southern Sudan sent another plane to instead of the Antonov 74 cargo plane.

Kiir was in Uganda to discuss the border tensions with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

- - -

From Bor Globe Network, Wed, November 25, 2009 15:54 by Geof Magga:
Uganda blames South Sudan officials for President’s plane crash scare

The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, has finally returned home several hours after the plane he was traveling in narrowly escaped a crash.

Salva Kiir, Wednesday morning survived a plane crash, as he was returning home to Sudan from Uganda, after one of the tyres of the plane in which he was travelling burst.

The pilot managed to control the plane and stopped it on the runway.

Salva Kiir yesterday met with Ugandan President, Museveni, over a border dispute. The meeting took place at Moyo town at the boarder of the two countries.

After the plane’s mishap, Salva Kiir was quickly evacuated and rushed back to Acholi Inn Hotel in Gulu town where he had spent the night.

Early this afternoon, Kiir and his entourage were escorted under tight security by the Ugandan soldiers back to Gulu Airfield. They took off at 2:30 p.m aboard a Uganda-registered charter plane.

The Antonov plane that was involved in the accident is grounded at Gulu Airfield. Engineers from southern Sudan are expected in Gula to repair the damaged plane.

Uganda says it is in no way responsible for what happened to the plane.

Uganda put the blame on southern Sudan government officials for chartering a plane with worn out tyres for their president.

- - -

From en.afrik.com by Geof Magga, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - excerpt:
Southern Sudan: No sabotage involved in President’s plane crash

According to one of the Airfield workers, John Okello, who witenessed the accident, the plane developed a mechanical problem as it was taxiing out of the airfield.

Okello said, ’’It is a big Antonov 74 cargo plane. Salva Kiir and other Southern Sudan officials boarded it at around 9.00 am today morning. As it was taxiing out of the airfield one of the tyres burst. The plane swung sideways sevearl times but the pilot later brought it under control. No one was injured."

No Sabotage

The area police commander, Aziku Zata confirmed the incident. Zata said, "It was a mechanical problem. There was no sabotage whatsoever."

He said that another plane from southern Sudan was on its way to Gulu airfield to collect the president and his group.

Southern Sudan is prone to plane crashes due to old planes. The airworthiness of some of the planes operating in the southern Sudanese region have often been questioned.

Last year a minister and several army senoir officers died when a plane crashed 300 kms north of the southern Sudanese city of Juba.

Click into Sudan Tribune's article to view comments.

Gen. Kiir safely returns to Sudan

Daily Monitor - ‎1 hour ago‎

The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir who earlier today survived a plane mishap in Gulu, has safely returned home. Gen Kiir, who was in Uganda for a ...

Southern Sudan president Kiir in plane mishap New Vision

Southern Sudan president in air crash scare Times LIVE

Kiir directs to not hinder freedom of political parties in South Sudan Sudan Tribune

UGPulse.com - Afrik.com

all 22 news articles »

ICC's Outreach Programme is active in Uganda, DR Congo, CAR and Darfur (Sudan)

Currently, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Outreach Programme is active in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Darfur (Sudan).

The programme promotes access to and understanding of judicial proceedings and fosters realistic expectations about the court's work.

This in turn has engendered greater local community participation by addressing their concerns and countering misperceptions.

Full story at Congo Watch, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - ICC's Outreach Programme is active in Uganda, DR Congo, CAR and Darfur (Sudan).

Cross-posted at Sudan Watch.

Ugandan security forces kill senior LRA commander Okello Ukuti in CAR?

From Sudan Tribune by Richard Ruati, Sunday, November 22, 2009:
Ugandan security forces kill senior LRA commander in CAR

November 22, 2009 (Kampala) — The Ugandan security forces in Central Africa Republic have killed a senior LRA rebels Commander near Obo town in CAR, an Army spokesperson has confirmed.

Speaking by telephone hookup from Kampala the UPDF Spokesperson Lt Col Felix Kulayigye told Sudan Tribune that, “Senior LRA Commander Col Okello Ukuti was shot dead around Obo town last Tuesday, he was found alone in hiding.”

Asked whether Col Ukuti was killed with other LRA rebels/bodyguards, Felix said that, “LRA commanders don’t have soldiers or bodyguards anymore, most of their soldiers have been killed by UPDF,” adding that, “many others have surrendered to UPDF of recent.”

He cited the killing of Col Ukuti as a very big blow to the central command of LRA rebels.”

“Col Okello Ukuti commanded the LRA gruesome attacks in Eastern Padeya Region in Northern Uganda,” Felix added.

The lamented that, “the Ugandan Army has intensified attacks on the rebels, blocking their escape to South Sudan and Chad.”

In south Sudan’s town of Nzara a week ago attacks attributed to the LRA killed seven innocent civilians who had converged to take part in the ongoing voter registration. The attack resumed reign of fear among the residents of Western Equatoria State.

Lt Felix further said, “there are less than 100 LRA fighters left, denying the recent media report that, 3,000 LRA fighters that crossed into DRC and he stressed that, the Ugandan Army is close to capture the “big fish, General Joseph Kony who is on the run in the fertile jungles of CAR.

As pressure is mounting on the fugitive rebels, over hundred LRA rebels and their top commanders have surrendered to SPLA, UPDF and Congolese soldiers. In southern Sudan over 60 rebels and their families have surrendered.

Reports emerging from Kampala say 34 rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have surrendered to the UPDF intelligence squad in Faradje in eastern Congo, according to military sources.

"They turned themselves in at 11:00am on Thursday with their commander, Capt. Obale," Brig. James Mugira, the Chief of Military Intelligence, told Saturday Vision in Kampala.

Of the 34, he said, 10 were Ugandans, 2 Sudanese and 22 Congolese. "They returned with 12 sub-machine guns, two walkie-talkies, 11 mobile phones and two solar panels."

This was the last group that surrendered from the Faradje area, according to the army. "That area has now been cleared," said Mugira.

The group’s over-all commander, Col. Charles Arop, turned himself in to the UPDF earlier this month after most of him men had either defected or been killed.

The unit of originally 71 rebels had been operating around the Faradje area since late last year and was responsible for the Christmas massacres that left at least 143 people dead.

Military sources estimate the total number of LRA rebels left in the Democratic Republic of Congo at 80. The rest is in the Central African Republic, together with LRA leader Joseph Kony.

In the past year LRA rebels have abducted close to a thousand children in the regions to use them kill their own people.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned the increasingly recent attacks by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan and CAR respectively.

As the clock is ticking on man who has brought horror to people he self-proclaims to liberate, the simple question one will ask is: Are the days of Lord’s Resistance Army numbered. (ST)

Further reading

Sudan Watch, November 06, 2009 - Leading LRA rebel commander Charles Arop surrenders to Ugandan army?

Sudan Watch, November 23, 2009 - LRA leader Joseph Kony has instructed his troops to move into Darfur?

Uganda: Cabinet approves new bill on kings

The law includes a clause that not only bars kings and chiefs from engaging in politics but also prohibits politicians from riding on kingdoms.

The kings and chiefs under the Forum for Kings and Cultural Leaders pledged loyalty to the sovereign state of Uganda and work as peers.

They asked the Government to increase payment to the traditional leaders, fund their activities, give them budgetary allocations and grant them royalties to natural resources, including oil...

Here is a copy of the full story by New Vision (Uganda) Thursday, November 19, 2009 - via afrika.no - Uganda: Cabinet approves new bill on kings

Kampala (Uganda) — President Yoweri Museveni told cultural leaders yesterday that the Cabinet has approved the draft Bill on traditional leaders. The law includes a clause that not only bars kings and chiefs from engaging in politics but also prohibits politicians from riding on kingdoms, he noted.

He was addressing kings and chiefs at a three-day Forum for Kings and Cultural Leaders at Masindi Hotel. Only the Kabaka of Buganda was absent.

"We have enough politicians. Kings should not interfere in politics but also politicians should not interfere with cultural institutions. It's both ways," Museveni said.

Citing outspoken leaders Ken Lukyamuzi, Geoffrey Ekanya and Kabakumba Matsiko, the President said each region had a sufficient stock of strong politicians. "Kings becoming politicians? This would be over-supply."

The President said politicians have enough work to pre-occupy them, such as building roads and fighting corruption, and do not need to get involved in cultural affairs.

Museveni seemed to be preaching to the converted. The traditional leaders, under the chairmanship of the Omukama (king) of Bunyoro, Solomon Solomon Iguru, in a memorandum pledged to distance themselves from politics.

"We call upon the Government to put in place measures to stop the interference of politicians with the affairs of cultural institutions and also to stop cultural leaders meddling in partisan politics or being used as platforms for disgruntled politicians," said the memorandum.

The kings and chiefs under the Forum for Kings and Cultural Leaders pledged loyalty to the sovereign state of Uganda and work as peers.

They asked the Government to increase payment to the traditional leaders, fund their activities, give them budgetary allocations and grant them royalties to natural resources, including oil.

They also asked the Government to implement the regional tier and correct the past historical injustices. "We in particular support the Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara to secure justice, including rights to land denied to his subjects in Kibale," the memo said.

The kings also navigated the sticky issue of the restoration and coronation of Prince John Barigye as the king of Ankole.

"We request the Government to reconsider recognition of the Omugabe of Ankole. The kingdom of Ankole having existed for over 600 years is a wealth of cultural assets that we cannot afford to see going to waste and neglect as it is currently happening."

The leaders condemned ritual killings, rampant corruption and high power tariffs. In response, Museveni said he would ask the NRM Caucus to amend the law so that murderers, rapists, defilers and people charged with corruption can only be given bail after 180 days.

"Then the fight against corruption will be easy. Now it's like a game. A person is charged and he applies for bail and he is released."

He promised institutions that missed out on money for bonna bagaggawale that they would be catered for in the next budget, and that support to cultural leaders would increase on a monthly basis. On the Ankole king, Museveni said the traditional institutions were restored only in areas where people cherished them. He said none of the six districts of Ankole made a resolution demanding for Obugabe.

Asked to introduce himself, Banyala head Baker Kimeze caused unease when he thanked Museveni for the way he handled the Kayunga issue.

"Allow me to thank you for the true spirit of statesmanship you exhibited while handling the issue of Kayunga. My people are grateful for the protection given to them when Mengo organised thugs to loot and possibly erase the Banyala," Kimeze said.

Earlier, Bunyoro prime minister Kiiza told the president that all cultural institutions had sent representatives apart from the "notable absence" of the one "who cannot come where the Ssabanyala and Sabaruli are".

Apart from the king of Bunyoro, present were also the kings of Bunyala, Buruli, Jopadhola and Bamasaba, and the Rwot of Lango. The other cultural leaders had sent representatives.

UK DFID Uganda: New contract opportunity in Uganda

From the website of UK Department for International Development (DFID)

Framework Arrangement for Governance Advisory Consultancy Services, DFID Uganda

The UK Department for International Development (DFID), as the chair of the development partner Accountability Working Group (AWG) is looking to establish a Framework Arrangement with consultancy firms/individuals to provide efficient and effective governance advisory consultancy services.
LAST UPDATED: 17 NOV 2009

ICC Trust Fund for Victims: Elisabeth Rehn elected to the Board of Directors

From the Finnish Government's Ministry for Foreign Affairs
November 18, 2009 14.24
Elisabeth Rehn elected to the Board of Directors of the ICC Trust Fund for Victims

Elisabeth Rehn has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims within the International Criminal Court. The Board members were elected at the session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court on 18 November in the Hague.

States Parties have been grouped into geographical areas, each of which has a representative on the Board of the Trust Fund for Victims. Elisabeth Rehn represents the group of Western European countries and Australia, Canada and New Zealand. A distinguished and internationally recognised human rights expert, she has previously served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament, Minister of Defence, Minister of Equality Affairs, a Member of the European Parliament, as UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and as Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the former Yugoslavia. In recent years, she has dedicated herself to international tasks. In particular, the impact of war on women and their role in peace building have figured prominently on Rehn’s agenda.

Besides Elisabeth Rehn, the following persons were elected to the five-seat Board of Directors: Betty Kaari Murungi, human rights lawyer from Kenya; Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former President of Latvia; Eduardo Pizarro Leongómez, President of the National Reparation and Reconciliation Commission o Colombia; and Ambassador Bulgaa Altangerel of Mongolia. The Board’s principal task is to guide the Trust Fund’s activities and allocation of resources and to coordinate and oversee assistance projects. The Board reports to the Assembly of States Parties. The new Board will start its three-year term on 1 December 2009.

The Trust Fund for Victims was established in 2002. Its objective is to assist victims of crime and their families in cases being processed by the International Criminal Court. The crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC are genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Trust Fund and its mandate are unique when compared against other international tribunals.

The special target groups of the Trust Fund’s assistance efforts are victims of sexual violence, former child soldiers and abducted children, the families of murder victims and victims of other brutal crimes, and victimised villages. The Fund’s assets are mainly used for the physical and psychological rehabilitation of victims and for material support. The Fund may also pay victims damages or other reparations by virtue of a decision given by the ICC during a trial. Initiatives for assistance projects come directly from target areas approved by the ICC. At present, a total of 29 projects are under way in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Uganda. The intention is to expand the scope of activities to the Central African Republic and to Sudan/Darfur.

The bulk of the funds used for assistance come as voluntary donations from states. Donations can also be made, for instance, by corporations, private individuals and organisations. The Court may also order that fines or other assets obtained be transferred to the Trust Fund. Finland has consistently supported the Trust Fund’s activities. In terms of the total contribution, Finland is one of the Fund’s biggest donors.

Additional information: Legislative Counsellor Sari Mäkelä, Unit for Public International Law, mobile tel. +358 40 739 2853, First Secretary Miia Aro-Sanchez, Embassy of Finland in the Hague, tel. +31 70 3110143

Crossposted on Sudan Watch and Congo Watch.

Moments before dying, LRA leader's mother said: "Tell Joseph Kony to make peace"

Commentary by Peter Eichstaedt from his blog post - The good, the bad, the ugly - Saturday, November 14, 2009. Excerpts:

This past week, Norah Anek, the 86-year-old mother of Joseph Kony, the leader of the militia-cult Lord's Resistance Army, passed away. She was buried not far from where she gave birth to Kony in the town of Adek, about an hour's drive southeast of Gulu in northern Uganda.

According to the nurse who was present at her death, "Moments before dying she said, 'Tell Joseph Kony to make peace,'"

She earlier had said that Kony's problem, the thing that drives him, was that he is possesed by evil spirits.

One can only hope that she was able to find some peace, having been saddled with the unenviable fame of having given birth to perhaps one the world's most notorious and deadly cult leaders.

Norah Anek's explanation for her son's behavior, possession by spirits, contains a nugget of wisdom that apparently cannot be grasped by those who continue to think and advocate appeasement as a way to deal with Kony and his vicious militia.

The latest of these statements surfaced on November 6, titled, "Elements of a New Strategy to Disarm the LRA," written by François Grignon, Africa Program Director of the International Crisis Group.

[...]

As I wrote in First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army, I was in Nabanga, South Sudan, in July 2006 when the first convoy of supplies was delivered to Kony and his LRA.

The gesture had doubtful merit even back then. Feed Kony as long as he stayed at the peace talks? It worked for a while, but it wasn't long before Kony and the LRA were back to killing, looting and abducting, even as food supplies were being delivered.

This aiding and abetting of an indicted war criminal, which was illegal, reached a depressing height in the spring of 2008 when Kony rounded up some 500 abductees from the Central African Republic, the DR Congo, and South Sudan. Yet, it continued.

It was done while Kony's opportunistic cheerleader, David Matsanga, proclaimed that Kony was going to sign the negotiated peace deal, which he did not, in April or May, and then again at the end of November.

The UN, meanwhile, was actively attempting to keep it all quiet because they were afraid that Kony would abandon the peace talks because of the logical outrage that would be generated. This was immoral.

The December 14 attack on Kony's camps in Garamba National Park failed, we all know.

It is clear that the LRA's capacity to intercept information about the pending attack, flee from it, and then go on an extended killing rampage had been enabled by the international community's "feed the lion" approach.

[...]

Kony, afterall, is an Africa problem, not one that needs to be dealt with by either the US or any European countries. Where are the leaders of the DR Congo and South Sudan? Why should the US have to call them up and hand them a pot of money so they will do their jobs?

Where are the African leaders who are so quick to condemn western nations who dole out aid with strings attached, such as insuring that aid money is spend for the purpose it was intended. Why do they shrink into the shadows when there is work to be done?

The citizens of the DRC and South Sudan are dying at the hands of the LRA. Why does the US or EU need to bribe these leaders into action?

[...] 

Forget more peace talks. Kony has more than humiliated the international community already with his lies, with his looting and killing.

Kony's mother had it right when she said her son was possessed. She knew, unlike some people, that we're not dealing with a rational person. Kony needs to be treated like the psychopathic killer that he is.

Maybe just once, finally, countries in the region (with EU and US support) can do the right thing: find and capture Kony, send him to The Hague, and end the madness.

See Grigin's posting at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6381&l=1
--
Posted By Peter Eichstaedt to Peter Eichstaedt at 11/14/2009 07:41:00 AM

NEW PUBLICATION: Peace and Security Council Report - November 2009

Here is a copy of an email received

From: Security Council Report
Subject: Peace & Security Council Report
12 November 2009

Readers of Security Council Report may be interested to know of the recent launch in Addis Ababa of a similar publication designed to provide monthly information about the work of the AU Peace and Security Council. It is called the "Peace and Security Council Report" (To access the November 2009 edition you can click here).

Peace and Security Council Report is produced and published by the Addis Ababa office of the Institute for Security Studies of South Africa. Security Council Report has assisted ISS with the development of this concept and it is pleased that ISS has taken SCR's Monthly Forecast as a model. We are pleased to have been able to help.

You are able to subscribe to regularly receive the Peace and Securty Council Report by clicking here.

Further details may be obtained from the programme directly at:
Peace and Security Council Report Programme
Institute for Security Studies
PO Box 2329
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251-11-372-11-54
Fax: +251-11-372-59-54

_______________________________________________

Security Council Report
One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza
885 Second Avenue at 48th Street, 31st Floor
New York NY 10017

Tel: 212.759.9429 • Fax: 212.759.4038

contact@securitycouncilreport.org
www.securitycouncilreport.org

Cross-posted to Ethiopia Watch and Congo Watch and Sudan Watch and Here is a copy of an email received

From: Security Council Report
Subject: Peace & Security Council Report
12 November 2009

Readers of Security Council Report may be interested to know of the recent launch in Addis Ababa of a similar publication designed to provide monthly information about the work of the AU Peace and Security Council. It is called the "Peace and Security Council Report" (To access the November 2009 edition you can click here).

Peace and Security Council Report is produced and published by the Addis Ababa office of the Institute for Security Studies of South Africa. Security Council Report has assisted ISS with the development of this concept and it is pleased that ISS has taken SCR's Monthly Forecast as a model. We are pleased to have been able to help.

You are able to subscribe to regularly receive the Peace and Securty Council Report by clicking here.

Further details may be obtained from the programme directly at:
Peace and Security Council Report Programme
Institute for Security Studies
PO Box 2329
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251-11-372-11-54
Fax: +251-11-372-59-54

_______________________________________________

Security Council Report
One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza
885 Second Avenue at 48th Street, 31st Floor
New York NY 10017

Tel: 212.759.9429 • Fax: 212.759.4038

contact@securitycouncilreport.org
www.securitycouncilreport.org

Cross-posted to Ethiopia Watch and Congo Watch and Sudan Watch and Kenya Watch.

IMPORTANT NEWS: Some Sudanese living abroad may vote in elections - Ten arrested for impersonating registration officials in Rumbek, Southern Sudan

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Thursday, November 12, 2009:
Some Sudanese Living Abroad May Vote in Elections

(Nairobi) - Sudanese living in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Malaysia will now be able to register for the elections scheduled for 2010.

The National Election Commission had earlier exempted some countries from participating in the voter registration exercise which started on November 1.

The Sudanese Ambassador to Kenya, Majok Guandong, told Sudan Radio Service in Nairobi on Thursday that he had received a circular from the NEC instructing him to start the voter registration. exercise in Kenya.

[Majok Guandong]: “Yes it is true, the news came yesterday morning (Wednesday) that the NEC has allowed us to establish voter registration centers in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Malaysia. So since yesterday we have been informing the Sudanese who are residing here, starting from tomorrow (Friday). The registration process will start at the Embassy and the GOSS liaison office. This is good news, because it is a constitutional right for the Sudanese to vote in the elections.”

Majok Guandong said that the registration period will be extended to compensate for the late start. He emphasized that the exercise will take 30 days, as required by NEC.

[Guandong]: “If we start tomorrow (Friday), we will be counting the days we have missed since the official start day, because it should be 30 days as scheduled. Secondly, all the documents are available at the Sudanese Embassy, and all Sudanese have the right. Since 1997, more than 5000 Sudanese have managed to get official documents, the passport, identity cards etc. The process is still on. So they have the right, if they need any official documents, there is no problem at all.”

Earlier, the deputy chairman of the NEC, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, told Sudan Radio Service that NEC was only concentrating on the countries with large Sudanese populations.

The countrywide voter registration exercise is scheduled to finish at the end of November.

- - -

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Thursday, November 12, 2009:
Ten Arrested for Impersonating Registration Officials in Rumbek

(Rumbek) - Ten people posing as registration officers have been arrested in Rumbek, Lakes state.

The 10 are under police custody as investigations are going on. They are being held for registering voters, collecting people’s identification and convincing people not to register at the official registration centers set up by the state High Elections Commission.

Our correspondent in Rumbek, Mageng Wade, sent this report.

[Mageng Wade]: “These people said that they were being sent and given money by the NCP to come and register people locally in order to prevent them from registering for the elections next year. So that is the agenda behind the registration of people in their houses.”

Rumbek Central county commissioner Abraham Akol Bol also spoke to Sudan Radio Service.

[Abraham Akol] “They have been arrested by the police and they are now under police investigation and we have not yet received information from the police whether this group belongs to a political party. They were trying to register people and were telling them not to go to the registration centers because they had already been registered. They also took ID cards from the citizens, those who tried to register but the culprits were found by police and they are now under investigation.”

The deputy governor of Lakes state, David Ngok, said that the people are trying to sabotage both the voter registration exercise and the elections.

[David Ngok]: “If there are some people who are trying to sabotage the voter registration process then they are also sabotaging the elections. We will not tolerate this as the government because this is government policy and it’s part of the CPA and the constitution so we will not allow them to do it.”

The deputy governor of Lakes state, David Ngok, spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Thursday

Click on 'Election' label (here below at Sudan Watch) to read news report Nov. 10, 2009, entitled "SSDF to sue NEC for denying Sudanese in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia a chance to register as voters in the general elections"

Cross-posted to Sudan Watch and Kenya Watch and Ethiopia Watch and Egypt Watch and Congo Watch.
- - -

UPDATE: From Sudan Tribune by Ngor Arol Garang, Friday, Nov. 13, 2009:
National election board accepts additional countries for Sudanese Diasporas

November 12, 2009 (MALAKAL) — The National Election Commission (NEC) of Sudan today confirmed acceptance of additional countries to the previous list for registration and voting to enable Sudanese abroad to participate in the upcoming elections next year.

Following the publication of a list of countries comprised mostly the Golf countries where the members of the Sudanese Diaspora are from northern Sudan, the SPLM asked to take in consideration African countries where Southerners reside massively.

The initial list includes Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, the UK, Belgium (for all Western Europe) and Washington, New York, Los Angles for the USA.

"We have allocated more registration and voting centers in Africa and Asia, said Abel Alier, NEC chairman at Malakal airport as he was en route to Khartoum after inspecting southern states voter registration centers.

Countries newly agreed upon for inclusion by the two parties in Africa includes Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa as well as and Malaysia, he said adding discussions are underway to add other neighboring countries.

Therefore, as commission, "we request Sudanese people residing in those countries to immediately establish contacts with the Sudanese embassies and other designated offices for registration," he emphasized.

Asked why being selective with countries hosting number of Sudanese people abroad to participate in the ongoing voter registration, he said, national election commission gets approval of countries to be included in the registration process from the presidency.

"The Presidency is the highest authority which decides on issues pertaining to country affairs such as voter registration," he commented expressing wishes all Sudanese people abroad open registration centers.

However, he was quick to say the Commission tries its best to ensure inclusion of more centers so that every Sudanese participates in the upcoming elections.

He said constitution allows participation of legally registered citizens to elect their leaders in the upcoming April 2010 elections.

"If you are not registered, it will be hard to vote for the person one sees as leader," he said adding voter registration remains opened to the last day of November 2009.

Alier also requested local authorities to give logistical supports to voter registration teams. He also acknowledged assistance being rendered by United Nation Mission in Sudan in transportation of voter registration materials and teams in where government supports is required.

"UNMIS is greatly supporting registration process in water zones and areas without good roads mostly in the southern part of the country and transitional areas," he stressed.

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33 minutes ago from Facebook
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November 11, 2009