Analysis: Key challenges for Southern Sudan after split
Listen Juba (Alshahid) – The release of referendum results for Southern Sudan’s historic independence showing that 98.83 percent voted for secession means formal independence is scheduled for 9 July 2011, but key challenges still remain to be negotiated. These issues, observers say, must now be hammered out by the two ruling parties – the north’s [...]
S. Sudan govt elites enjoy luxuries as citizens live in poverty
Listen Juba (Alshahid) -Are Southern Sudanese Government officials trying to make up for lost time? Top of the range four-wheel drive vehicles, including the fuel-guzzler Hummer, are the only cars they are driven in. Their offices are air-conditioned and flashy, with wall-to-wall carpets. The men prefer neatly cut and well-pressed suits of the designer type, [...]
Sudanese president Bashir arrives in southern city
Listen Juba (Alshahid) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir landed at the airport in the southern city of Juba on Tuesday, five days before voters in the region decide whether to break away from the rest of the east African nation. Al-Bashir is there to inspect the referendum process and meet with other senior officials in [...]
Regional security, landscape will change forever after Sudan poll
Listen By ASUMAN BISIIKA -On January 9, the people of Southern Sudan will vote in a referendum that will determine whether they become an independent state. Observers say that whichever way the vote goes, there will be far-reaching ramifications for the people of both North and Southern Sudan, as well as the entire region. The [...]
Pirates’ Catch Exposed Kenya Route of Arms to volatile Sudan
Listen Khartoum (Alshahid) — It was September 2008 and a band of Somali pirates made a startling discovery. The Ukrainian freighter they had just commandeered in the Gulf of Aden was packed with weapons, including 32 Soviet-era battle tanks, and the entire arsenal was headed for the regional government in southern Sudan. The Ukrainian and [...]
Sudan referendum: Voters bribed to stay away from registering
Listen Khartoum (Alshahid) -On January 9 next year, Sudan will be going to the ballot to decide whether the South should become an independent state. But even as registration goes on, different parties say there have been efforts to sabotage the exercise. Whereas President Omar al Bashir is being accused of bribing southern Sudanese in [...]
Southern Sudan extends referendum registration deadline
Listen Juba (Alshahid) -Southern Sudan has given potential voters an extra week to register for January’s referendum on possible independence. The authorities said moving the deadline to 8 December would not affect the vote, scheduled for 9 January. The referendum is a consequence of a peace deal that ended a two-decade long civil war between [...]
South Sudan rejects Libya’s Gaddafi warning on independence vote
Listen Juba (Alshahid) – Southern Sudan has rejected Muammar Gaddafi’s warning that a vote for independence next year could destabilise the rest of Africa. Southern Sudan Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told the BBC that Africa had not broken up when Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. He said the people’s choice should [...]
Rwanda’s Elections: Strong economic growth earned Kagame clear victory
Listen Kagame’s clear victory in the recent concluded Rwanda’s elections was due to improved and sustained economic growth after 1994 genocide in which more than 800, 000 were killed in a violence which lasted for about three months. Analysts argue that since 2001, Rwanda has registered 6.4 per cent growth and this economic achievement enabled [...]
ICC official lauds deal with Kenyan Government.
Listen Nairobi (Alshahid) – International Criminal Court Registrar Silvana Arbia has praised the Kenyan Government move to sign an agreement with the court granting it immunity and privileges to operate locally. Ms Arbia was briefing the Press after paying courtesy calls on Rift Valley PC, Osman Warfa, and Mayors John Kitilit (Nakuru) and Paul Karanja [...]