Sudan Protests

   CAIRO (AP) - Thousands demonstrated Friday in nearly two dozen neighborhoods of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, calling for President Omar Bashir to step down, according to activists, keeping up the pressure on the autocratic general-turned-president who has been in power for nearly 30 years.

   The activists said hundreds also took to the streets Friday in the railway city of Atbara north of Khartoum, Obeid in the western North Kordofan province, and Senar and Wad Madani south of the capital. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

   They said police used tear gas to disperse protesters in the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman, a traditional hotbed of dissent. There were no reports of casualties.

   Friday's protests were the latest in a wave of demonstrations that began across much of Sudan on Dec. 19, first against price rises and shortages but which later turned against Bashir, in power since a 1989 military coup he led. They coincide with worsening economic woes that saw a currency devaluation spiking prices, fuel shortages and a steep rise in the price of bread, a main fare for most Sudanese.

   The government says elections are the only legitimate means for "regime change" and insists that "subversive elements" have infiltrated the ranks of peaceful protesters. Lawmakers loyal to Bashir are rallying support in the legislature for constitutional amendments to allow Bashir, who is in his mid-70s, to run for election in 2020.

   On Friday, the spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he wanted authorities in Sudan to conduct a "thorough investigation" od the deaths and violence during the protests. "The Secretary-General emphasizes the need to safeguard freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," the spokesman said.

   London-based rights group Amnesty International says it has "reliable reports" to show that 37 people were killed in the first five days of unrest. The United States, Britain, Canada and Norway have expressed concern about the use of lethal force by security forces against protesters and are demanding an investigation.

   On Thursday, the government gave its first casualty figures from the unrest. It said 19 people were killed in the protests and more than 200 protesters were wounded. Nearly 190 members of the security forces were wounded, it added.

   As in previous protests, participants numbered in the hundreds or very low thousands, but the continuing defiance of the government in the face of security forces accused of using lethal force indicate a high level of popular discontent.

   But it's too soon to speculate on whether these relatively modest numbers could force Bashir to step down. They may embolden top army commanders to counsel the president to quit in the nation's interest, although another general at the helm is unlikely to placate the Sudanese. A protracted uprising would likely paralyze the country and turn into the kind of chaos seen in Libya, whose 2011 revolt turned into a civil war that has left the country divided to this day.

   Sudan's military has dominated the country since independence in 1956 and the ongoing protests bear some resemblance to popular revolts in 1964 and 1985 that toppled military regimes and ushered in democratically elected governments, later overthrown by military coups in 1969 and 1989 respectively.

   The protesters in Atbara chanted "the people want to bring down the regime," the main slogan of the Arab Spring revolts of 2010 and 2011. In Omdurman, they chanted "freedom, peace and justice."

   A video clip provided to The Associated Press by the activists and posted online purported to show the scene at a Khartoum mosque where Bashir, an Islamist, performed his Friday prayers. A lone male voice could be heard shouting "Bashir, leave!" The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.

   Friday's protests also coincided with an indefinite strike by doctors and a three-day strike by journalists that began on Thursday.

   Also Friday, the activists reported another wave of arrests of opposition leaders, including some of the organizers of an attempted march on Bashir's presidential palace on Tuesday. The call for the march attracted thousands of participants who clashed with police who used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them. Scores were wounded, some seriously.

   Among those arrested is the chairman of the liberal Sudan Conference Party and a senior leader of the Communist Party, the latter a key player in past popular uprisings.

Statement from Save Lamu Organisation

STATEMENT FROM SAVE LAMU ORGANISATION
Friday, January 27, 2012

Today the Minister of Lands, Orengo and yesterday the PS of Transport, Dr. Cyrus Njiru downplayed the plight of the people of Lamu over the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor. They keep ignoring that Lamu people are not only demanding land rights and are not against the lamu port but asking for transparency, information, consultation, and mitigation for the whole LAPSSET project. And still keep using the old constitution to violate the land rights of the people of Lamu.

Yesterdays comments by Mr. Orengo that the Lamu people are squatters on GOK land so the port must go on since they are squatters on GOK land were therefore very arrogant.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrIwY3eLKkg&list=UUekTpzKodObpOcmvVCFUvTw&index=7&feature=plpp_video. The new constitution clearly states that there is no government land but only Public land. In article 62(2) it says:

"Public land shall vest in and be held by a county government in trust for the people resident in the county, and shall be administered on their behalf by the National Land Commission..."

Since we have no County government yet and their is no National Land commission, they think the land is theirs automatically yet the constitution is very clear that the County government is holding it in trust for US not the GOK. Why can't they wait till we have our county government is in place to start the project? Why an't they rush to create the National Land Comission Bill before tehy carry out the port?? Because they want to steal while they still can just like Kilindini... WAKE UP TO THE REALITY PEOPLE!!

So people of Pwani, people of Kenya, I ask you to wake up to their clear arrogance. They want to marginalize the people of Lamu the same way the people of Mombasa were with the Kilindini port. The same way they took Masaai land and converted it into national parks without benefit-sharing. Today, the Kilindini port is closed and run down after all of them pocketed their own money. And the people of Mombasa... not even a house or title to show for it. The Masaai the same. When will the people of Pwani and Kenya as a whole join forces against this clear oppression? Tumechoka! Nimechoka! The new constitution is very clear. It must be followed!! No excuses. No ifs. No buts!

February 8th, 2012 is the court date for the port case in Malindi ...http://www.savelamu.org/press-release-lamu-residents-file-legal-petition-on-the-multi-billion-lamu-port-project/.... I say my dear friends, we should show them that while the people of Lamu may be weak, the people of Pwani are a force to reckon with and the people of Kenya are a BIGGER force to reckon with!!

No more corruption, no more oppression... a port but with information, consultation, and mitigation!!

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   ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - A Sudanese official says Sudan will immediately release loaded oil tankers it has detained in its port and wants to end a dispute over payments for oil with its neighbor South Sudan.
   Landlocked South Sudan began halting oil production last week after accusing Sudan of stealing $815 million worth of the south's oil and detaining the oil vessels in Port Sudan.
   Sayed al-Khatib, spokesman of Sudan's negotiation team, says Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir decided Saturday to "release the vessels detained in Port Sudan as soon as possible".
   Al-Khatib also says Bashir is ready to sign an agreement with South Sudan's president Salva Kiir "by the end of today".

Nchi Mpya - South Sudan

(pichani: Bendera ya SOUTH SUDAN)

Wadau, Sudan Kusini sasa ni nchi huru. Mungu Awabariki maana wamepigana vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe kwa miaka 50. Waarabu wa kaskazini waliwatesa na kufanya ndugu zao waafrika weusi wa kusini kuwa watumwa na kuwaua ovyo. Safari yao ndefu lakini watumie hela ya mafuta vizuri kujenga nchi. Sidhani kama itabaki na jina la SoutH Sudan kwa muda mrefu, huenda wakaiita jina la kimila kama

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JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan raised the flag of its new nation for the first time Saturday, as thousands of South Sudanese citizens and dozens of international dignitaries swarmed the new country capital of Juba to celebrate the country's birth.

South Sudan became the world's newest country Saturday with a raucous street party at midnight. At a packed mid-day ceremony, the speaker of parliament read a proclamation of independence as the flag of Sudan was lowered and the flag of South Sudan was raised, sparking wild cheers from the crowd.

Mnaweza kusoma habari zaidi hapa:

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/a-new-flag-raised-1004971.html

Je, Sudan Kusini itakuwa Nchi?

Baada ya miaka mingi ya vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe huko Sudan, naona ni bora Sudan Kusini ijitenge na Kaskazini. Mnaonaje? Kutakuwa na uhuru na amani kweli kwa watu wa Kusini wakibaki nchi moja? Hapo mzungu aliharibu kweli alipochora mpiaka ya nchi hiyo wakati wa ukoloni.

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( pichani Ramani ya Sudan)

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Years before Sudan's south began casting votes for succession, the woes of Africa's largest country were defined by the ethnic bloodshed in the western Darfur region.

Now, international mediators and rights groups are calling for stronger efforts to settle the eight-year Darfur conflict, fearing that the expected breakaway of the south may push Khartoum's leaders to clamp down harder on dissent and place stricter limits on an international role in Darfur and other areas that remain under its direct control.

Human Rights Watch and other groups say violence was already increasing in the vast arid region in the lead-up to the southern referendum held earlier this month. At the same time, government restrictions are making it harder to obtain information on conditions there, they say.

On Friday there were reports of new clashes between the military and rebels in Darfur, leaving 21 dead.

As many as 300,000 people have died as a result of the fighting in Darfur - a vast region outside the secession-seeking south - between forces from the Arab-led central government and rebel factions whose demands include greater control over natural resources. At least 2.7 million people have been displaced inside Darfur and in neighboring Chad.

The roots of the breakaway movement in the south are similar, but it's also fed by a religious split between the Muslim-dominated north and the heavily Christian south.

The referendum for southern independence was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war. Preliminary results show overwhelming support to create the world's newest nation.

American officials visited Darfur during the referendum to send a message that the region will not be forgotten.

U.S. Senator John Kerry reminded Sudanese officials that prospects for improved relations with the U.S. hinge on progress in Darfur. He also urged greater international efforts to reach a resolution in Darfur after more than two years of talks in Qatar have failed to reach a comprehensive peace deal.

Mediators from the African Union echoed Kerry's appeal.
Roger Middleton, a Sudan expert with the London-based Chatham House, said the impact of the referendum on Darfur is still far from clear.

"There are two possibilities. One of them is that the loss of southern Sudan and the loss of that big obstacle frees up Khartoum to really focus on winning a war - a political war, at least - in Darfur and that gives them the ability and time and the money to focus on that," he said.
The other possibility is that the Darfur rebels could take inspiration from the south "and perhaps even potentially (see) an ally in the new southern independent state," said Middleton.

In advance of the referendum, violence flared between government forces and the array of Darfur rebel groups, which pledged to unite. U.N. officials said as many as 40,000 people were displaced by the December fighting.

The government walked out of peace talks held in Qatar's capital, Doha, after failing to reach a cease-fire agreement. And a rebel leader who had signed a peace deal with the government in 2006 fled to southern Sudan, prompting the government to declare him a public enemy.
The "defection" of Minni Minawi, who was appointed a presidential adviser after signing the peace deal, has raised alarms about the potential of proxy wars between north and south.

"We don't think that it is in the best interest of the new state of south Sudan to be a sanctuary" for rebel groups, the head of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission, Ibrahim Gambari, told The Associated Press.

He has held recent talks with the U.N. mission in Sudan over tightening security cooperation along the 286-mile (460-kilometer) border between Darfur and breakaway south Sudan. U.S. officials said President Barack Obama also raised the issue with the southern Sudan president, Salva Kiir, before the referendum.

But despite a public promise from Kiir to deny Darfur rebels a home in southern Sudan, Minawi is still in the south. He was quoted by Sudanese papers as saying there has been no progress in talks with Khartoum officials over his return.

Mediators say the Doha peace talks are not dead. Shuttle diplomacy between rebel groups and the government have already began and a small delegation from the main rebel faction, the Justice and Equality Movement, is currently in Qatar.

"Now with the referendum and maybe in July the separation, I think the attention of the international community will be focused ... to have a success story like with the north-south," Gambari said, adding that sanctions against rebel groups refusing to join the talks are also being considered.

There are fears, however, that Khartoum could move to limit access to Darfur and the rest of its territory to international groups, like those providing crucial humanitarian aid to the displaced.
The Small Arms Survey, a research project that monitors armed violence, said in a January report that the northern ruling party has made it clear "it would set the price of southern secession very high, and part of that price would be limitations on the international community's role in and access to the north."

The report said mediators have expressed concern that a Darfur deal - if reached - may be impossible to "implement in the shrinking political space that is expected to follow the referendum."

Government officials said they hope a peaceful settlement with the south would open the door to settle Darfur. Khaled Musa, Foreign Ministry spokesman, insisted armed revolt will get the rebels nowhere.

"When the government signed (the southern peace deal) it was not in its weakest political or military position. We had the upper hand," Musa said. "The only possible way to resolve Darfur is through political negotiations."

But the rebel Justice and Equality movement accused government forces of capturing some of its senior military commanders this week. It also condemned government efforts to open dialogue with Darfur residents as an attempt to sideline the rebel groups.

A Sudanese army spokesman said clashes erupted between army forces and JEM fighters a week after the referendum, killing 21 people, including 13 rebel fighters.

"Our priority is to work within a united Sudan. But if the suffering and crimes continue without a resolution, all options are open," said Ahmed Hussein, a spokesman for the rebel group. "For now the focus is on working within a united Sudan and we don't demand a separation for the time being."

Watoto wadogo walazimishwa kufanya ngono ili wapate Chakula!

Jamani! Unaweza kulia baada ya kusikia habari hizi! Kumbe huko Haiti, Sudan, Ivory Coast na nchi zingine watoto wadogo wenye miaka sita wamelazimishwa kufanya ngono na kupiga picha za uchi kusudi wapate chakula kutoka kwa wafanyakazi wa vyama vinavyotoa misaada.

Wanasema kuwawalinda amani (Peacekeepers), na watoa misaada wa vikundi mbalimbali wamo kwenye orodha ya wanaonyanyasa watoto wadogo. Wanasema kuwa mara nyingi uhalifu kama huo unatokea kwenye makambi ya wakimbizi. Huduma mpaka kwa ngono! Habari zinasema wamelazimisha hata watoto wenye miaka sita kufanya ngono!

Huko Haiti binti wa miaka kumi na tano alisema kuwa alikuwa antembea na rafiki zake. Wakakutana na kundi la wafanyakazi wa chama kimoja cha misaada. Walitoa bolo zao kwenye suruali na kuwaambia wazinyonye ili wapate hela. Yule binti alikataa lakini rafiki zake walikubali na kupewa vihela na pipi.

Ubaya zaidi ni kuwa ingawa wenyeji wanajua inatokea nini, hawasemi kitu. Wanaogopa kuwa kama wakilalamika misaada itaacha kuja.

Lakini hebu mjiulize. Ni watu gani wanaofanya kazi kwenye hizi kundi? Mara nyingi ni watu waliokosa kazi kwao! Je, wanapimwa akili kabla ya kupewa kazi muhimu kama kwenda kugawa chakula au kulinda amani.

Lazima nisifu ripoti waliotoa Save the Children. Wamefanya kazi nzuri mno ya kuumbua hao washenzi!

Kwa habari zaidi someni:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/27/charity.aidworkers/index.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/27/2257459.htm

Mwalimu Gibbons arejea Uingereza!

Mwenye fitna Sarah Khawad

Mwalimu Gibbons na watoto wake

Mwalimu Gillian Gibbons (54), yuko Uingereza na familia yake. Alirejea leo asubuhi na ndege ya Emirates.

Mwalimu Gibbons, alisifia waSudani na alisema yaliyompata yasiwakatishe moyo wengine kwenda huko. Anasema hakujua nini inatokea duniani na jinsi kesi yake ilivyogusa wengi maana alifungwa peke yake (Solitary). Baadaye kuna mtu alimdokeza kuwa kesi imekuwa kubwa.

Kwa sasa anataka kupumzika na kushrekea Christmas na familia yake. Halafu atatafuta kazi.

Imegundulika kuwa chanzo cha matatizo yake ni visa vya dada moja aliyekuwa anafanya kazi kwenye shule hiyo, Unity High School. Sarah Khawad, alikuwa karani kwenye hiyo shule. Alifukuzwa kazi Novemba na aliahidi kuifunga hiyo shule ili kulipiza kisasi!

Mweza Septemba Khawad aliwaomba wazazi wa watoto wa darasa la Mwalimu Gibbons (darasa la pil) kwenda polisi kumshitaki. Walikataa.

Khawad ndo aliwaambia polisi kuhusu darasa la Mwalimu Gibbons kuita mdoli, Mohamed na kusababisha matatizo yote. Unity High School imefungwa kwa muda.

Kwa habari zaidi someni:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2996339.ece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=W3X5JNTYSUBITQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/12/04/dl0402.xml

Rais wa Sudan amsamehe Mwalimu Gibbons!

UPDATE 1:29PM Eastern - Mwalimu Gibbons ameondoka Sudan, kurejea Uingereza.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/03/sudan.teacher/index.html

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Rais wa Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, amemsamehe mwalimu mwingereza Gillian Gibbons (54)! Mwalimu Gibbons alifungwa Sudan wiki iliyopita baada ya kuruhusu darasa lake la wanafunzi wa darasa la pili kuita mdoli wa darasa, Mohamed.

Wasudan walisema kuwa ilikuwa kashfa kwa waislamu. Wengine walidai auliwe. Baada ya mwalimu huyo kufungwa wabunge wawili waislamu kutoka Uingereza walienda Sudan kuongea na rais Al-Bashir. Msamaha huo umetolewa leo asubuhi.

Mwalimu Gibbons naye ameomba msamaha kwa watu wa Sudan na kusema kuwa hakuwa na nia ya kuwakashifu. Hivi sasa yuko chini ya ulinzi ya waingereza ubalozini mwao kwa usalama wake. Ataondoka kwenda Uingereza hivi karibuni.

Wakati huo huo, Serikali ya Sudan bado inaendelea kuua waDinka (waafrika) huko Darfur.

Kwa habari zaidi someni:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/03/sudan.teacher/index.html

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/281848

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22865462-663,00.html

Mwalimu Mwingereza afungwa Sudan!

Mwalimu Gillian Gibbons

Macho ya waiingereza yamekuwa Sudan tangu jumapili kwa sababu ya mwalimu kutoka Uiingereza anayefundisha katika shule ya International huko. Mwalimu Gillian Gibbons ana miaka 54. Wanafunzi wake wana miaka saba na lazima bado wako kwenye umri wa kupenda toys (vitu vya kuchezea). Walikuwa na mdoli wa darasa. Aliwapa zoezi la darasa kumpa jina. Wengi walichagua jina Mohamed. Kwa kidemokrasia wengi wanashinda. Hao watoto wa miaka 7 ndo waliochagua jina la Mohamed. Majina mengine yaliyopendekezwa ni Hassan na Abdullah.

Huyo mwalimu namhurumiwa sana. Lazima hakuelewa uiislamu vizuri. Hakuna picha ya mtume Mohamed na wala hakuna sanamu yake. Hivyo kumwita huyo mdoli Mohamed ilikuwa tusi kubwa kwa waislamu. Pia kaanza kufundisha Sudani juzi juzi tu. Kwa wazungu kutoa jina kwa midoli ni kawaida. Sasa anashitakiwa kwa kosa la kutukana uislamu.

Sasa nauliza hivi, hao waSudani hawakuweza kumwelezea kuwa kafanya kosa na kumwelimisha. Baadala yake walitishia kumchapa viboko 40 na kufungwa jela.

Leo mahakama huko wameamuru afungwe siku 15 na awe deported akitoka. Tayari waSudani wanaonekana wabaya duniani kwa kuua raia wao wanye asili ya Afrika hasa kabila la Dinka huko Darfur.

Nawauliza wasomaji waislamu, je, walivyofanya waSudani ni sawa au walizidisha kipimo na hii tukio?

Na hao watoto je, waadhibiwe kwa kuchagua hiyo jina au waelimishwe sheria za uisilamu? Lazima wataathirika maishani mwao wakikumbuka mwalimu wao mpendwa alivyonyanyaswa kwa kosa hiyo.

Hii kesi inasisitiza umuhimu wa watu wanaoenda nchi zingine kuelewa mila na desturi na dini za huko!

Kwa habari zaidi someni:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11/29/sudan.bears/index.html

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3931681&page=1

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/International/2007/11/29/briton_convicted_in_sudan_blasphemy_case.html