Good evening, it’s 5pm. This is Radio Miraya news. I am Chaplain Nemaya.
The Headlines
- President Salva Kiir speaks out on transitional government
- UNMISS encourages IDPs to move to new Protection of Civilian sites
- Western Bahr el Ghazal clears ghost names from government payroll
President Salva Kiir says any attempt to form a transitional government without him is a red line.
The President made the comments while addressing the national Parliament this morning.
Sani Martin was there and now reports.
Sani report:
“The President was briefing the legislators on the progress of the peace negotiations and discussions on the formation of a transitional government.
President Kiir said he would not allow anybody to dissolve Parliamentarians or the Executive because they were elected by the people.
On calls for the use of the federal system of government, President Kiir accused the opposition of using the federal system to win the support of Equatorians.
The President told the MPs he has written the chairperson of regional grouping IGAD for an explanation over reports that the body’s Executive Director Mahboub Maalim used abuse language against him. He says he is waiting for a response from the Chairperson before the talks can resume. I am Sani Martin for Radio Miraya News.”
The United Nations Mission continues to encourage internally displaced people seeking protection at its bases to relocate to the newly open sites.
According to UNMISS, the new sites are spacious and are on higher ground, to prevent flooding with the onset of the rains.
UNMISS chief for Recovery, Reintegration and Peacebuilding, Derk Segaar, says there are worries and concerns of sanitary conditions due to congestion and floods at the current protection sites of IDPs.
Derk Segaar: “We have flooding regularly. UN partners and UNMISSS are working very closely together to improve the sanitary conditions and create new sites, so that everybody will be more safe and ensure that they have better services in the way that they will not crowd in a small space. ”
So far, more than 6,000 IDPS have been relocated to the new Protection of Civilians site in Malakal, Upper Nile State, and improvements are being done at the PoC sites at the UN House in Jebel, Bor and Bentiu.
Meanwhile, UNMISS Spokesperson Ariane Quentier says UNMISS and the government are coordinating to ensure civilians returning to their homes are jointly protected by the government and UN Police.
Ariane Quentier: “There has been an initiative which is planned between the UNPOL and SSNPS whereby areas were identified, police stations are going to be set there, and there will be a program between the police and for the people who want to return, go back to their neighborhood.”
A search operation to recover illegal weapons from the public will continue in Juba.
Police Spokesperson Col James Monday Enoka says the operation that was launched just after the start of the crisis last December has received a good response.
Enoka says they have recovered thousands of weapons and illegal items.
Enoka operation: “That is not just a one-time event. This search will continue. It has recorded a tremendous success because everybody is now telling me there is security. The number of guns now is in the thousands and even other illegal materials such as drugs, forged money, elephant tusks and leopard skins. If there is anybody carrying guns and illegal items hoping to make use of it, I humbly ask that you surrender them to the nearest police station. And if we find anything that is affecting the people and their security, we have to put in place measures to minimize danger to the people.”
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More than 100 ghost names have been removed from the government payroll in Western Bahr el-Ghazal State.
The names were discovered as the Ministry of Public Service was preparing salaries for the month of May.
The State Minister for Public Service, Monica Sabino, says the cleanup exercise was done following a resolution by the State Council of Ministers to verify the numbers and qualifications of government workers.
Sabino says most of the ghost names were in the Ministries of Health and Education.
Monica Sabino: “Most of the cases of local appointments, we discover them in the line ministries and specially ministry of education and ministry of health. They have a lot of cases of provisional appointment, and we have discovered that there are some people who have forgery in qualification certificate. Now we are implementing the Council of Ministers resolutions. As the first step, their names are extracted from May salary and for good. ”
Still in Western Bah el Ghazal, the Vice Chancellor of the Bahr El Ghazal University in Wau, is asking the national Government to increase support to the university this academic year.
Prof. Samson Wassara says challenges such as a lack of teachers, transport, finance and books are jeopardizing the running of the university.
Wassara says many challenges were faced as the students sat their final exams.
Samson Wassara: “We have actually about 2,291 students in the campus but we need more space. There was no any single answer book in the University of Bahr el Ghazal, so we made efforts to go to Juba to prepare enough and transport them by air. The second challenge was the two engines that provide electricity were down, so it was difficult for the sudents to read so we made efforts and the state authorities cooperated with us to send engineers to come and repair the two engines we have.”
A new primary health care unit has been inaugurated in Aweil North county of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
The unit in Abyei-Chok village consists of two buildings that were constructed out of contributions from the local community, with support from local authorities.
The state Minister for Health, Tong Deng Anei, officially opened the facility and handed an assortment of drugs, including cholera vaccines, to health authorities.
The Minister urged the health workers to deliver medical services to the people of the area.
Anei: “Today, we have the health workers. There are two community health workers who will be working here so these people will be here. What I want to tell them is that the lives of this community are entrusted on them. They are entrusted to provide health care services and the government will support them, will provide the drugs and will provide the salaries for them, but we want to see that they are always on their job, because the women here who are actually the majority and they are the ones producing us, need our services so that if the pregnant woman is there in the village, she will need medical attention immediately. That is why we opened this clinic. So I want also the local community here to support the health workers who will be here.”
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has warned of an ‘epidemic of youth unemployment’.
The Secretary-General says many young people are stuck in low wage work with no protection in the informal economy, while others find that their schooling has not equipped them with the right skills.
Mr. Ban is calling on governments around the world to invest more in youth employment activities.
Ban Ki-moon: "We are facing a great test of our time -- an epidemic of youth unemployment. Half of the world's young people in the labour force are either working poor or unemployed. The global youth unemployment situation is intolerable, particularly for young women. In countries rich and poor, unemployment rates for young people are many times those of adults.
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According to the International Labour Organization, over 74 million young people are unemployed worldwide and a further 200 million are what it calls "working poor."
In regional news
The death toll from an Ebola virus in West Africa has reached more than 330.
The World Health Organization says health officials have struggled to contain the outbreak that was believed to have begun in Guinea in February.
The bulk of the cases have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The WHO has described the outbreak as one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever.
And in sports
Looking at today’sWorld Cupmatches, Colombia takes on Ivory Coast, Uruguay faces England and Japan meets Greece.
Matches will be played at 7 o’clock at night, 10pm and 1 o’clock in the morning respectively – local time.
To end the news, here are the main stories once again.
- President Salva Kiir speaks out on transitional government
- UNMISS encourages IDPs to move to new Protection of Civilian sites
- Western Bahr el Ghazal clears ghost names from government payroll
You have been listening to Radio Miraya news, with me Chaplain Nemaya. To let us know about the latest news where you live, contact us at;
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