South Sudan: SSNMC – “News of a thwarted kidnapping attempt on SSNMC Chairman Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro (18.01.2018)

South Sudan: CTSAMM Report 2018/03 – SGBV in the Juba Area, Central Equatoria (15.01.2018)

Kenya: EU suspends its support for Water Towers in view of Reported Human Rights Abuses (17.01.2018)

NASA Statement: Electoral Justice is Non-Negotiable! (17.01.2018)

South Sudan: CTSAMM launces an investigation in Jonglei (17.01.2018)

South Sudan: SPLM Leaders FPD – “Press Statement – On Violation of COH Agreement of 21st December 2017” (15.01.2018)

Joint statement of the African Union and the United Nations on the situation in South Sudan (15.01.2018)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, January 15, 2018 – Joint statement of the African Union and the United Nations on the situation in South Sudan:

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, strongly condemn the recent violations of the 21 December 2017 Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access in South Sudan.

They call on all South Sudanese fighting parties to immediately cease all hostilities, desist from undertaking any further military operations, and uphold their commitments to the 21 December 2017 Agreement. They further call on the parties to uphold their primary responsibility to protect civilians, adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law and ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Secretary-General of the United Nations underscore the determination of the international and regional community to ensure that the parties abide by their obligations and responsibilities. They affirm their intent to support the imposition of consequences, consistent with the African Union Peace and Security Council Communiqué of 20 September 2017, should the parties continue to violate their own Agreement.

They express their full support for the second phase of the High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) under the leadership of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). They call on the parties to participate in the Forum in good faith and with a view towards reaching a compromise and bringing South Sudan back to the path of sustainable peace.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Secretary-General of the United Nations reaffirm their belief that there can only be a political solution to the conflict in South Sudan, and the parties must demonstrate the political will to negotiate a permanent ceasefire and update the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) in order to end the appalling suffering inflicted on the South Sudanese population.

Opinion: Jubilee is ready to skin you now that the elections are over!

Let it be known that the State Coffers and the Government isn’t a well-oiled machine, the Kenyan government is taking up debt to cover old debt, which is all created by the current administration and the current President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. Both of them have taken up expensive loans for both running the government, but also development projects. However, they have run their tab and is struggling.

They have subsidized lots of things people needs, they have paid providers and importers, they have made sure the costs of importing and producing has been lower. Especially in the months in advance of the Presidential Elections in 2017 and also a little after. However, they don’t need the votes and public goodwill anymore. Therefore, the subsidizes are now ceasing to exist.

The prices of gasoline and similar products are going up now in January. The prices of electricity has already been rising. The eminent rise of prices on UNGA is also coming. All of this is coming, as the subsidizes are ceased. The Jubilee Government cannot afford the billing and the tab, they have gained so much debt, that they cannot muster enough money to pay for this too.

Expect sugar and cooking oil to go up. If the airtime for the phone companies and the charges on M-Pesa would go up as well. All the Mobile Money and Airtime could also rise. The inflation and the current instability in the economy will hit all parts of the economy. The signs are there and the government need to tax and get more fresh funds. Easiest is to charge every single costumer and citizens through what they are already needing and spending on. That is all of this.

Make sure that the needed products, the food, the electricity and the gas cost more. So that the charcoal and other ways of heating will cost more. There will be more blackouts and less businesses can afford to hold the generators working.

Parents are also feeling growing school-fees combined with payment for uniforms and extra curricular activities. All of this is adding cost and making it harder for people to send their kids to school. This all combined means that there is a higher cost of living, while the salaries are not following. Meaning that the citizens are getting poorer, by just existing and breathing in the same space as the politicians.

That the Jubilee Alliance Party have tricked the public is clear, that they are trying to earn money on the public and find ways to fix their ill-gained debt spiral with added taxes and higher cost of living. The expenses of ordinary and needed products are rising. It is worrying, the signal of a falling economy and problematic investor space. Where cartels are controlling sugar, flour-milling and imports. Where the cronies and families of the political circle are owner and involved in key businesses.

We can wonder why it had to happen just small months after the elections and the swearing-in in November 2017. That Kenyatta and Ruto have planned this for a while. That is why the Forex Levy is now being changed and making things more costly. The UNGA and Sugar subsidy are also gone, as it was just a temporary relief. The gasoline and the electricity are controlled by the state and special levy, which is now taken away.

The ones paying this is the public, its the citizens and the politicians, the government know why it happens and let it happen. We can wonder, why they are accepting making life harder for their citizens. Peace.

Kenya: Energy Regulatory Commission – Press Release – “Maximum Retail Pump Prices in Kenya for the Period 15th January 2018 – 14th February 2018” (14.01.2018)

South Sudan: IGAD HLRF Power Sharing Proposal (January 2018)