Somalia: Council of Inter-State Cooperation (CiC) Position on the Special Arrangement of Somaliland (24.06.2018)

Communique of the 32nd Extra-ordinary Summit of IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government on South Sudan (21.06.2018)

The NRM have fixed Butebo and Pallisa District By-Elections before the polls starts!

The newly created district Butebo district out of Pallisa district, where the boundaries was even contested in Parliament before the creation of it in November 2017. Therefore, the coming election for 28th June will be with National Resistance Movement MP Flag-bearer Samuel Keddi. You know the district is poor, when the district itself only have one car, this is owned by Butebo Sub-County District Councilor Gabriel Enyaru. That is why this By-Election is showing how unfavorable the wealth is shared in the Republic.

So, the NRM today came out with Press Release mocking the Opposition for not fielding a candidate, however, that is untrue. With the creation of the Butebo District. Forum for Democratic Change was ready to field their candidates in the district, by they were all disqualified by the Electoral Commission. This was preliminary precaution of the NRM. To secure a victory without any real contest. The biggest losers here is the residents of Butebo and Pallisa, who doesn’t have real competition for their voters for their new District Chairman and Woman MP.

The reason we know this is because: “there is an affidavit certified by URSB and in The Uganda Gazette clarifying on the issue of names but the Mr. Museveni has still insisted on disqualifying the FDC candidate by Monday 18th June 2018” (Harold Kaija, 15.06.2018).

That is why the NRM regime is securing the Butebo MP without really trying and fixing the results before it begins. The NRM is afraid of any real effort. The Bugiri By-Election is already heavy contested and is a worry, combined with the Jinja East, Kyadondo East and Rukungiri By-Elections. The NRM doesn’t want the Butebo District and Pallisa District to become another win for the Opposition. It has been insulting enough. That is why Museveni have ordered the EC to deliver the results on a silver plate. That is why they have also disqualified Pallisa Woman MP Candidate Achola Catherine Osupelem from the FDC.

Seems like Museveni gets his will, the FDC will not be allowed to run their Chairperson Flag-bearer Sam Khalwa against Keddi. That is weak-tea. When the NRM claims there was no opposition candidate for that role, when Khalwa was ready.

How stupid does the NRM think the people are?

They have disqualified the FDC candidates in the Butembo and Pallisa Districts. Therefore, the retribution from the public, should be defy the polls and not show up on 28th June 2018 in Butebo, as the NRM has fixed the result in their favor already! Both Woman MP and District Chairperson have been barred from the race. Peace.

NRM Secretariat – Re: SG Lumumba in Butebo Today (23.06.2018)

Age Limit Petition: Asking for a Court Judgement (20.06.2018)

South Sudan: The War-Lords wasn’t ready to speak about Peace!

In South Sudan the prolonged civil war is continuing and with the fresh dialogue between the parties didn’t help. Some had hope that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – In Government (SPLM-IG) or the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) under the leadership of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. He has been ruling and with an iron fist. While the main opposition leader and rebel Dr. Riek Machar are running the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO). There is also a coalition of other rebels and opposition, who is the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) of 8 political parties/militias, some of them are run by big men like Dr. Lam Akol (National Democratic Movement – NDM) and Gen. Thomas C. Swaka (National Salvation Front – NAS).

Therefore, the knowledge of delegations from SSOA, TGoNU and SPLM/A-IO in the IGAD High Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) that has failed as even the house-arrested Machar couldn’t mend the fences or the idea of peaceful progress. That means the army and militias will continue to fight until they got supremacy.

Some people had hope as Ethiopian Government hosted this 32nd Extra-Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa and the shared arrangement to work on the “Revised Bridging Proposal” for all the stakeholders in the conflict as IGAD prepared for the dialogue this week. Still, that did not make it easier. They have the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) &Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM). All of these are interfering and monitoring the Republic. This combined with all the NGOs and Bilateral Organizations who support as well. Therefore, the international community is involved in the process. They are bookkeeping and securing needed services in the midst of the civil war, even footing the bills for it all. So the TGoNU can continue their fighting against their opposition.

This combined with various agreements that has not been kept, cease fire violations and such. These War-Lords really has no plan of quitting. They are preoccupied with the continued conflict and the looting of the Republic. There major resources being squandered away, not only seen by the Sentry in their reports, but the Kenyan bloggers are looking into the money laundering and estates owned by the War-Lords from South Sudan. Clearly, they are preoccupied with earning money on the toils and tears created by the conflict. That is why they are afraid of their future if the conflict ends. The guns are speaking their language. Even as the people are still lingering in refugee camps abroad and the Republic has no solution. The leadership isn’t hungry for peace, it is hungry to overcome its advisory.

At this point as the years lingers and the leaders continue to eat of the poverty, the famine and civil-wars, even as the state is bankrupt, creating higher bank-notes and the international community is footing the bills for development and needed supplies in refugee camps. This is clearly not the intention. But that is the sad reality as the innocent are dying and is afraid. The own leadership are holding this on. They are violating agreements or stifling it. If they are not getting their way, they are picking up guns or sending tanks to their yards. That is what happen in 2016, when the 2015 Agreement was starting to be established. However, that only lasted months before the new fresh conflict we are seeing today. Since then, there has been more deflections and more creations of new outfits who wants both Machar and Kiir to step down. However, none of them seems to fit the bill.

The state of affairs is sad. The people deserve peace, but War-Lords are busy finding ways to outsmart the enemies. Instead of dialogue and building real bridges, they are instead blowing them up hoping no-one finds out.

The people of South Sudan deserves better, but the leadership is busy killing each other and trying only to use ammunition to do so. They are not interested in talking. They know the trigger and is ready to aim. Peace.

Somalia: Joint Press Release from Telecoms & Internet Service Providers questions the appointments of the Telecom Authority (20.06.2018)

Opinion: You know your Constitutional Amendment Sucks, when the Presidential Guards need to be your safety afterwards!

You know that the repercussions of the activity from last year is now in full affect. When the Members of Parliament, the staunch supporters and ones who was the mega-phones for the will of the President. Needs the added security because they are afraid of their lives. They know that the people are not in favour of a President for life. That is why they are now encircled with the Presidential Guards.

“According to sources, the MPs and government officials’ security was enhanced last Friday. They each got additional soldiers from the Special Forces Command, an elite presidential protection unit. The beneficiaries include; Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa, State minister for Privatization Evelyn Anite, MPs; Raphael Magyezi (Igara West), Jacob Oboth-Oboth (West Budama South), Grace Balyeku (Jinja West), Simeo Nsubuga (Kassanda South), Peter Ogwang (Usuk) and Doreen Amule (Amolator)” (Namuloki, 2018).

Clearly, the Movement MPs are feeling the hatred and the local dismay over the decision to make the President for Life. They have tarnished the Constitution in favour of one man and his lifestyle. They have given the NRM regime the life-line by a thread and is now afraid of meeting the people. That is what this is all about. All of them knew what they we’re up to in the end of 2017, when they we’re ushering this and their legacy will be remembered for this. They cannot run away from the status quo they have created.

The Movement are fixated and doing the bidding of the President, the most loyal now needs the Presidential Guards to shield them from the people. A real sign of the state of affairs, how they are not the people’s candidates and their flag-bearers, but instead the King’s Men. They are the loyal servants of the President and is part of his court. That is the reality and they cannot run away from that.

The Movement MPs have to responsible for their actions, they have to able to go to the Constituents and answer for what they did. They are in charge and threw behind their names in the name of abolishing age limit for the Presidency, and that is why they have to answer for that as well. Therefore, they should man-up and set it straight.

This is the aftermath and this MPs are afraid of their own community, that says more about their behaviour, than the community itself. The Community are just addressing their disbelief that the so-called representatives are opposing what the people want. That is why they are angry and displeased when they meet. Clearly, this is now addressed.

That is why they are hiding behind the Presidential Guards, since he sends them that as a token of their loyalty to him. Peace.

Reference:

Namuloki, Josephine – ‘Age-Limit MPs get more SFC guards’ 20.06.2018 link: http://www.observer.ug/news/headlines/57990-age-limit-mps-get-more-sfc-guards.html

SPLM/A-IO: On the Reckless Statement of Juba Spokesman – Michael Makuel Lueth (22.06.2018)

SPLM/A-IO: On the Face-to-Face Between President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar Teny-dhuorangun (21.06.2018)