War-torn, famine-hit South Sudan Work permit fees increased 100-fold to $10,000, officials say
War-ravaged South Sudan has hiked work permit fees 100-fold for foreign aid workers to $10,000, officials said, despite suffering from famine. The world’s youngest nation has been mired in civil war since 2013, when President Salva Kiir fired his deputy Riek Machar, sparking a conflict that has increasingly split the country along ethnic lines. Last […]
Former South Sudan General Forms New Rebel Group, Calls for Overthrow of Kiir
General Thomas Cirillo Swaka says his group will “use every means possible” to bring down President Salva Kiir, but did not mention the size of his forces. General Thomas Cirillo Swaka spoke to VOA’s South Sudan in Focus from an undisclosed location Monday, soon after announcing the launch of a new rebel group, the National […]
South Sudan Soldiers Arrested for ‘Mass’ Rape
A senior South Sudanese military official says three soldiers suspected of mass rape have been arrested. Both rebels and government troops have been accused of committing war crimes. The alleged incident took place in Kubi village about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital of South Sudan, Juba. At a press conference held at army […]
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Calls for National Prayers to End Conflict
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has announced a National Day of Prayer for peace and forgiveness and urged citizens to turn out in high numbers. “As your leader and the Patron for the National Dialogue, I am obliged to release this public statement to inform all our citizens and friends about the planned National Day […]
Museveni, Ethiopian PM Desalegn to Discuss South Sudan Crisis
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected in the country today morning on a three day state visit during which he is expected to hold discussions with President Museveni over the fluid political situation in neighbouring South Sudan. Mr Desalegn, accompanied by his wife Roman Tesfaye Abneh and senior officials in the Ethiopia government, […]
Who’s to blame for South Sudan’s civil war?
Civil war, famine, and warnings of genocide; what’s gone wrong in the world’s youngest country? Two years after South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, a civil war erupted that has left the country devastated, with recent reports emerging of a man-made famine. For “Mama” Rebecca Garang, widow of the country’s founder, its poor leadership […]
South Sudan Govt Accused of Blocking Aid, Despite Famine
The head of the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says the government there should make sure that aid agencies can reach people who are starving. On Monday, three U.N. aid agencies declared famine exists in two counties of South Sudan. UNMISS chief David Shearer said the government was still blocking aid by delaying paperwork […]
More South Sudan Military Officials Resign
A brigadier general and a colonel have resigned from the South Sundanese armed forces. Both have accused President Salva Kiir’s government of corruption and protecting soldiers from his ethnic group. Two top military officials overseeing South Sudan’s military courts have resigned. Both are claiming that high-level interference made it impossible to discipline soldiers accused of […]
Get Serious About the South Sudan Conflict
Over the past six months, at least half a million South Sudanese fleeing insecurity in South Sudan have arrived in the West Nile sub-region of Uganda, joining the thousands of South Sudanese who had relocated to Uganda earlier. On Saturday, this newspaper reported that a health training institution from Kajokeji town, Yei, South Sudan, had […]
South Sudan Army Troops Accused of Mass Rape of Women And Girls At Gunpoint
Officials in South Sudan say army troops entered a village near the capital, Juba, on Sunday and raped at least a half-dozen women and girls, some of them at gunpoint. The alleged rapes occurred less than two weeks after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir issued a warning that soldiers who commit acts of rape and […]
