21 Jan 2015
Good afternoon. It’s 1 o’clock. I’m Agole Alex.
The Headlines
· South Sudan and Uganda renew agreement on UPDF operations
· Thieves break into WFP stores in Raja County
· National Handball Association officially admitted into regional body
South Sudan and Uganda have renewed a military agreement that extends the presence of Ugandan troops in South Sudan.
Under the agreement, troops of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, the UPDF, will stay in the country for a further four months to support the SPLA.
The deal was signed between Minister of Defense Kuol Manyang Juuk, and his Ugandan counterpart Dr Chrispus Kiyonga in Kampala.
Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk says the renewal comes after a review of the security situation.
Juuk: “We gave them an assessment of the situation from our part and we have stressed that the Ugandan forces must be here. Therefore, we went and signed a memorandum of understanding for them to stay here for another four months, ending on 13 March, after which we will evaluate the condition once again. These are normal agreements in any country. Any country can sign memorandums with her neigbhours to contribute to security, and this is not the first foreign army here. We have the Ugandan and the American armies in Nzara working with the SPLA to fight the LRA."
Police have dispersed a group of youth who broke into the stores of the World Food Programme in Raja County, Western Bahr el Ghazal State.
The youth in Dem-Zubeir Payam attempted to steal bags of sorghum and lentils after they disagreed with the amount of rations they were receiving as payment for their work.
Raja County Commissioner Marodama James Benjamin confirms the incident and says police intervened and dispersed the looters.
Benjamin: “Injustice in the distribution of sorghum led to a disagreement among the group. They opposed that this food for work is not equivalent to the work they have done. They suggested that it should be increased. People were many and protested. The group ran to the stores and looted numbers of bags of sorghum, thirty eight bags, and more than twenty bags of lentils. Security forces entered the area. Police and army chased the protesters and all the people and now the area is calm.”
Just days after a deadly cattle raid left six people dead, a fresh attack has been reported in Jalle payam of Jonglei State.
This raid targeted two different Bomas within Jalle.
Radio Miraya’s Chaplain Nemaya is in Bor and now reports:
Chaplain’s report:
In the latest cattle raid, authorities say a group of gun men attacked Mayideng and Akwaiding Bomas within Bor County. The attackers are said to have taken forty five cattle, but no one was wounded. I asked Bor County Commissioner, Isaac Mamer Ruuk to share more details on the latest raid.
Mamer: “The raiders came and stole 15 herds of cattle in Baidit payam in Mayideng. On the same day they also took 30 herds of cattle in Jalle payam of Akwaiding in Jalle Payam. The government is in the position to provide adequate security to the areas affected by this raiding and those IDPs. And the government is in position to protect them and humanitarian assistance is on the way also.”
Last Sunday attackers burnt more than 70 homes and looted hundreds of cattle. More than 800 people who fled the attack are currently camped in Jalle Payam headquarters. Two hundred cattle were recovered by security forces.
Peter Wal Athiu, the state minister for local government and law enforcement in Jonglei , says the security situation between government and opposition forces is calm, pointing out that insecurity caused by cattle raids is a worrying concern.
Athiu: “The rebels have no activity we can say, but there are other activities like banditry, cattle rustling, killing. We use internal emergency of course to protect the civilians by deploying the police and the army to some extent but this is a busy area, still they can come and kill.”
The state government in Jonglei is working hard to improve the security of the civilians being displaced and those living in other conflict prone areas north of Jonglei.
I am Chaplain Nemaya for Radio Miraya news.
Six people have been killed in sectional fighting in Rumbek, Lakes State.
The fighting between the Ruop and Kuei communities was sparked off after a staff member of the state Ministry of Information identified as Mayom Kuc was killed in his house, in Rumbek Central, prompting a revenge attack.
The State Minister of Local government and Law Enforcement agency Jok Ayoum Majak says reinforcements of organized forces have been deployed to the area.
Still in Lakes state,
The Police Traffic Department in Rumbek, Lakes State, is cautioning security agents and drivers in government offices to respect traffic regulations.
Director of traffic Chol Arol says the security personnel are some of the major violators of traffic rules.
Arol also blames authorities for recruiting drivers without licenses.
The Director says many accidents are caused by unqualified drivers.
Arol: “Our accidents these days, they have just increasing because we have got many cars here in Lakes State -- the ones for operations and the ones for the army and the government institutions. So there are some of the drivers, they don’t respects regulations of traffic like our colleagues, the police and others from army and whatsoever. So when you stop them, they will not accept to stop. Most of the drivers here in Lakes State, some of them they don’t have driving license and they are working with the government. If you have your brother’s son or sister’s son or any relatives to you and he knows how to drive … and he doesn’t know nothing about the car and you give him work, that is not good.”
Just this week a driver from the state governor’s office knocked and injured a pedestrian in Rumbek town.
The woman is receiving treatment at Rumbek State hospital.
The Nation Mirror newspaper has been ordered to close its doors indefinitely.
The paper was confiscated yesterday by National Security Service agents for allegedly publishing anti-government content.
The security agents told the editor-in-chief the closure was also due to the publishing of a story which claimed the SPLA had withdrawn from the town of Renk in Upper Nile State.
The editor-in-chief of the paper, Wol Atak, says the story in question was a misprint which they attempted to clarify.
Elections for the South Sudan Bar Association have been rescheduled for Monday next week
This comes after the court of appeal for the Equatoria Judicial Circle ruled out a case of illegality against the bar association committee which had stalled the process.
Spokesman for the Bar Association Electoral Committee Peter Matthias says they are arranging for lawyers from the states to attend the elections
Matthias: “Yesterday the high electoral committee for the bar association in South Sudan held an extraordinary meeting and has taken a number of decisions and particularly that our concern is conducting the elections or rescheduling the elections for the bar association on 9February next Monday. By will of God now we are arranging on how we can bring in lawyers from the states and we assure that the elections will take place on 9ththis month.”
You are listening to Radio Miraya News
Western Bahr el Ghazal is the latest state to release results of the 2014 basic schools examinations.
The State registered a pass rate of more than 70 percent. Girls performed better this year compared to last.
The State Minister of Education, Adil Athanasio, noted the exceptional performance of Jovina John Sabino who was awarded a scholarship by the state government for her exceptional performance.
Athansio: “Jovana is the only girl in the top 10. Mr. Director General gave her the scholarship of the ministry. Two thousand nine hundred thirty eight were those who sat compared to 2,508 last year. There is an addition of 430 students. Those who passed are 2,061 and those who failed are 877. Boys were 1,885, girls 1,004. Boys passed with 73 percent and girls 66 percent. Compared to last year boys passed with 83 percent and girls 53 percent. There is improvement in the standards of girls.”
Still in WBeG, State Governor Rizik Zakaria Hassan has issued a decree appointing his office manager, Eisa Hussein Iwada, as Commissioner for Cabinet Affairs.
Recently appointed Director General for the Ministry of Trade and Cooperative, Ms. Monica Sabino Madut, has been relieved and replaced by Joseph Richard Mbuka.
Meanwhile, the state Ministry of Education in Northern Bahr el Ghazal has released the results of this year’s Primary Leaving Examinations.
Announcing the results in the State Capital Aweil, Education Minister, Valentino Achak Deng said nearly than 4-thousand pupils, including students on the Accelerated Leaning Programme sat the exams.
Deng says the state registered a pass rate of more than 70 percent.
Deng: “A percentage of 72.55 students passed the exams and an average percentage of 27.45 candidates failed. The number of male candidates was higher than that of the female candidates. The total of the male candidates who sat was 3,505 candidates, which is equal to 78.87 percent and the total female candidates who sat for the exams was 939, which is equal to 21.13 percent.”
The pupils will receive their certificates in the next two weeks.
In regional news
Boko Haram militants have reportedly killed at least 70 people in an attack on the Cameroonian town on the border with Nigeria.
The Islamist militants attacked civilians and set fire to homes and a mosque in the town of Fotokol.
The attack comes a day after a regional force said it had driven the militants from a Nigerian town near Fotokol.
Onto sports
The National Handball Federation has officially been admitted into the Africa handball federation.
The announcement was made at the Africa federation congress going on in Doha, Qatar.
The chairperson of the national federation, Juma Stephen, says the admission comes with an invitation to take part in preliminary matches in preparation for the handball world cup tournament.
Stephen: “South Sudan officially was admitted as member to the African Handball family and this congress was attended by 41 African countries plus the two, South Sudan and Swaziland, who are newly admitted to the African Handball. And we have told to prepare ourselves also for the coming elimination matches for the African nations cup. The elimination stage for Zone five will take place in Ethiopia next month. “
South Sudan has been grouped in Zone 5, which includes Uganda, Kenya, Ruanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Sudan.
And Ivory Coast are through to the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament after a 3-1 win over the DR Congo.
The Ivoirians will next face the winner of today’s match between hosts Equatorial Guinea and Ghana.
To end the news, here are the headlines once again.
· South Sudan and Uganda renew agreement on UPDF operations
· Thieves break into WFP stores in Raja County
· National Handball Association officially admitted into regional body
Thanks for listening. I am Agole Alex.
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