12, September 2019
Sudan, South Sudan say war no more an option 0
War is “no longer an option” for Sudan and South Sudan, their leaders agreed Thursday during talks which focused on border disputes and the oil trade, but also resolving protracted conflicts in both nations.
Sudan’s new prime minister Abdalla Hamdok met with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on his first official visit since becoming premier, following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir.
“I am very delighted to be here in my second home, Juba. We are looking for a very strategic, very distinguished relationship between our two nations, and the sky is the limit for this relationship,” Hamdok said upon his arrival.
After the two-hour meeting, South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Awut Deng said the two leaders had discussed issues that had never been resolved under the 2005 peace deal that ended two decades of war with Khartoum and paved the way to South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
This includes the demarcation of the border between the two nations, trade issues and the movement of citizens.
“I think the time has come for us in the two countries to silence the guns. War is no more an option for our people. We need to have peace, and sustainable peace in our two countries,” said Deng.
“We can only do this in an environment where all of us have agreed to come out with a road map and work for peace.”
‘Brothers and sisters’
South Sudan plunged into its own war two years after independence that has left almost 400,000 dead and displaced millions.
Tensions have also remained high between Khartoum and Juba over border disputes and the oil trade, however the two nations are increasingly moving to normalize ties.
“We are brothers and sisters. We have been one country and now we are two countries but we are still one nation and we hope to develop our relations,” said Sudan’s Foreign Minister Asma Mohamed Abdalla.
Analysts say the two nations have been pushed together by the grinding war in South Sudan — which has defied several peace attempts — and an economic crisis in Sudan, which was hard-hit by the collapse of the south’s oil industry.
The worsening economic crisis sparked nationwide protests that triggered the fall of Bashir.
One of Bashir’s last moves before his ouster was to broker a peace deal between Kiir and his rival, rebel leader Riek Machar, at a time when much of the world had wearied of trying to solve the crisis.
However, the 2018 peace deal has stalled as Sudan has been roiled by its own crises in recent months.
Observers are anxious to see if Khartoum’s new government will push Kiir and Machar to advance on the implementation of the deal.
The two men met this week in Juba for the first time in five months, with a power-sharing government meant to be set up by November.
Sudan’s conflicts
In a further sign of rapprochement between the two countries, Kiir offered in 2018 to mediate peace talks between Khartoum and rebels in the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur conflict zones.
The Blue Nile and South Kordofan fought alongside the south for independence, however were left north of the border in 2011 and have continued their own insurgency against Khartoum.
Rebels in Darfur also waged a long war over marginalization in the western region.
Hamdok has vowed to end these conflicts which have left thousands dead and millions displaced.
This week armed groups from those areas held talks in Juba which ended Wednesday in the signing of a deal on “pre-negotiation principles” with Khartoum.
“We assure them and the people of Sudan in general that all the suffering and the killing and marginalization will end,” said General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, deputy chairman of the Sudan Sovereign Council.
(Source: AFP)
13, September 2019
Cardinal Tumi optimistic about Biya’s planned ‘national dialogue’ 0
An upcoming “major national dialogue” in Cameroon has been hailed as a positive step by the country’s only Catholic cardinal.
In a rare speech on Tuesday, President Paul Biya called for “a major national dialogue that will, in line with our Constitution, enable us to seek ways and means of meeting the high aspirations of the people of the North West and South West Regions, but also of all the other components of our Nation.”
The North West and South West Regions of Cameroon are the English-speaking areas of the French-speaking majority population.
The “Anglophone Crisis” began in 2016, when demonstrations broke out in the two regions after there were demands to use French in their common law courts and English-modeled schools. English speakers make up around 20 percent of the country’s population and have long complained about being marginalized by the French-speaking ruling class.
After Cameroon’s security forces’ heavy-handed response – including using live ammunition on demonstrators – rebel movements arose calling for the independence of Anglophone Cameroon, saying the new country would be called Ambazonia.
According to the UN, the ensuing fighting between the separatists and government forces has led to the deaths of at least 2,000 people, and the displacement of a further 500,000.
Biya said he was launching the dialogue at the end of September to rally Cameroonians “to reflect on values that are dear to us, namely: Peace, security, national unity and progress.”
The dialogue will be chaired by Prime Minister Dion Ngute and bring together a wide range of personalities: Politicians, civil society and business leaders, religious authorities, and members of the security forces.
“It will also focus on issues that can address the concerns of the population of the North West and South West Regions, as well as those of the other regions of our country such as bilingualism, cultural diversity and social cohesion, the reconstruction and development of conflict-affected areas, the return of refugees and displaced persons, the education and judicial system, decentralization and local development, the demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, the role of the diaspora in the country’s development,” the president said.
The emeritus Archbishop of Douala, Christian Cardinal Tumi, told Crux he was “satisfied” with Biya’s remarks on Tuesday.
“Even before the speech, I was telling someone that if the president does not convene this national dialogue to resolve mainly the Anglophone problem, he would have said nothing. But I am very happy that he spoke at length about the problem,” Tumi said.
The cardinal had been on the forefront of efforts to bring people together to talk about the problem, but his efforts to organize peace talks have been thwarted by the government.
However, Biya’s latest appeal is not unconditional.
“Those who voluntarily lay down their arms and place themselves at the disposal of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Centers have nothing to fear,” the president said during his speech.
“Conversely, those who persist in committing criminal acts and violating the laws of the Republic will have to contend with our Defense and Security Forces and will face the full force of those same laws.”
“The same applies to promoters of hate and violence who, comfortably settled in foreign countries with impunity, continue to incite murder and destruction. Let them know that sooner or later they will have to face justice,” he said.
In efforts to resolve the crisis, the government has taken some actions, including the translation of regional corporate law documents into English; the creation of a Common Law Section at the Supreme Court to handle appeals filed against the decisions of lower courts in Common Law matters; the launching of a special recruitment of bilingual teachers in secondary schools; and the establishment of a national Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.
But these measures have proved unsuccessful in stemming the revolt.
Tumi expressed optimism the upcoming dialogue will lead to a sustainable peace, but told Crux he believes that only a return to a federal system of governance can resolve the Anglophone crisis.
“We are a people called to live with all our differences. In federalism, these differences are respected,” he explained in August.
When the English-ruled part of Cameroon voted to join the new country in 1961, as opposed to a union with neighboring Nigeria, it was as part of a federal government. Federalism was dissolved after a 1972 referendum.
A return to federalism would mean changing the constitutional form of the state – an idea Biya has frequently spoken against. Perhaps, the upcoming national dialogue could be the venue in which he changes his mind.
Crux