Day: September 8, 2021

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Clashes Between South Sudan Forces Unsettle Western Equatoria State

JUBA , SOUTH SUDAN – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called on military commanders and political leaders Tuesday to end clashes in Western Equatoria state following the deaths of at least five people on Monday.

A joint team made up of South Sudan defense forces and Opposition Alliance forces was dispatched to Tambura to resolve the conflict, according to Major General Lul Ruai Koang, spokesperson for the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF).

Reports circulated that fighting erupted between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army In Opposition (SPLM/A IO) and SSPDF forces loyal to General James Nando.

There are varying accusations of who was involved in the fighting that has destabilized the region and led locals to flee the town of Tambura.

Koang said the fighting involved a few soldiers but not full compliments of troops.

“That was not a clash between the two armies, it was a clash between elements from both sides,” Koang told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus radio program.

But SPLM-IO spokesperson Major General Lam Gabriel denied that the fighting involves opposition forces. The SPLM-IO is the political wing of the opposition group.

Father Emmanuel Bie Gbafu, the local parish priest, relocated to a United Nations base in Tambura for safety reasons.

Displaced families are sheltering at UNMISS camps in Tambura, and thousands of residents have fled the fighting, Gbafu said.

Gbafu said he heard gunshots in Tambura beginning early Monday but did not know “who was fighting who.”

“We don’t know who is doing the killing, (but) civilians are dying,” Gbafu said.

The violence is endangering the town’s nearly 10,000 residents, creating the risk of further displacement and increasing humanitarian needs, according to an UNMISS statement.

The statement quoted UNMISS chief Nicholas Haysom as saying it is “vital” that national and local political leaders “take urgent action to resolve tensions and bring communities together to avoid further loss of life, homes, and livelihoods.”

Aid workers are “caught in the crossfire while trying to carry out critical tasks,” Haysom said. He called on authorities to do more to ensure that aid agencies have safe access to people in need.

South Sudan’s Joint Defense Board vowed to end tensions by separating forces in the area.

“We know it’s civilian violence, but the presence of the IO and SSPDF in the areas is making the situation become more political,” SPLM-IO spokesperson Gabriel told South Sudan in Focus.

But Western Equatoria State Information Minister William Adriano Baiki said the conflict in Tambura is not between two ethnic communities but between warring forces.

Source: Voice of America

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Tigray Forces Deny Reports of Mass Killings in Amhara

Rebel forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region denied reports Wednesday that they had killed dozens of civilians over a two-day period in the Amhara area.

The Reuters news agency reported Wednesday that regional authorities said 120 civilians were killed between September 1 and 2.

Local officials told Reuters that they had recovered bodies which appeared to be those of farmers in a village roughly 10 kilometers from the town of Dabat.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front released a statement later Wednesday rejecting what they termed “a fabricated allegation.”

“We reiterate our call for an independent investigation into all atrocities, and our willingness to facilitate media access to areas under our control for independent verification of any allegations,” said Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the TPLF.

Reuters noted that if confirmed, the incident would mark the first mass killings by Tigray forces since they claimed control over territory in the Amhara region.

On June 28, the Ethiopian government announced an immediate and unilateral humanitarian cease-fire after nearly eight months of fighting with Tigrayan forces. But hostilities have continued, and the prime minister recently urged all Ethiopians to join the fight.

Tigray forces reclaimed control of the regional capital, Mekelle, after government forces withdrew. In the weeks since the cease-fire was announced, they have expanded their presence into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, where fighting has escalated, displacing tens of thousands of civilians.

The TPLF, which ruled Ethiopia for three decades, now controls Tigray. The TPLF-led authority administering the region says it is the Tigray Regional Government; Ethiopian federal authorities say that government was dissolved and that a provisional administration has the mandate in Tigray.

Source: Voice of America

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Malawi Fears Its COVID Vaccines Will Expire Due to Hesitancy

BLANTYRE, MALAWI – Malawi health authorities fear vaccine hesitancy could lead to tens of thousands of COVID-19 jabs expiring early next month. With just 2% of Malawi’s population vaccinated, authorities hope to increase uptake by deploying mobile vaccination clinics to bring the vaccine closer to people.

Malawi has so far received just over 1.2 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines under the COVAX facility.

But vaccine hesitancy in Malawi is widespread largely because of misperceptions of the jabs’ efficacy and safety.

Dr. Gift Kawalazira, who heads Health and Social Services at the Blantyre Health Office, says there’s yet another reason for the low vaccination rate.

“We have noticed that with the coming of summer, the number of cases has drastically reduced, and also the number of people coming for vaccination have reduced from having over 2,000 people per day to having just about 400 people per day now,” he said.

Kawalazira said deploying mobile vaccination centers will help increase vaccine uptake, noting that when the initiative was launched Saturday over 600 people were vaccinated – and six companies booked the mobile clinic to come and vaccinate their workers.

He predicted the initiative will help Malawi meet its vaccination target of 60% by 2022 and allay fears that more vaccines will expire.

“Johnson & Johnson is actually expiring after December and AstraZeneca has got two different batches, one of which is expiring next month, and the other one is going up until December,” he said.

In May, Malawi incinerated about 20,000 AstraZeneca doses that had expired after many people refused the jab due to concerns about its safety and efficacy.

Malawi health ministry statistics show that currently only about 700,000 people have had one jab, while about 400,000 are fully vaccinated, representing 2.1% of the country’s 18 million population.

Simeon Phiri got his jab Wednesday at a mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Limbe market in Blantyre. He said the convenience with which he could get the jab played an important role for him.

“This has helped me a lot because it has provided me easy access to the vaccine instead of walking a long distance. For example, I came here to Limbe to do some errands, but I also have found an opportunity to get vaccinated,” Phiri said.

To increase uptake in rural areas, the government is currently working with traditional leaders to mobilize and tell their communities about the need to be vaccinated when the mobile clinics visit their villages.

Source: Voice of America

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Guinea Opposition Leader Voices Support for Coup

The leader of Guinea’s main opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), says the country’s September 5 coup was justified because President Alpha Conde was illegitimate after he changed the constitution to run for a third term.

Speaking to VOA’s James Butty in an exclusive interview through an interpreter, Cellou Dalein Diallo said all the ills of Guinean society cited by the military junta had been identified and denounced by his party.

Asked if he would personally participate in a unity government if the military were to ask him to do so, Diallo said he would personally not join a transitional government but would designate members of his party to take part.

Diallo claimed to have won the October 2020 presidential election, but the electoral commission declared Conde the winner, and the Guinean Supreme Court validated the results in favor of President Conde.

Diallo said he would run again for president in a new election.

The election followed a March 2020 constitutional referendum that paved the way for Conde, 83, to extend his stay in office. The opposition said at least 21 people were killed during protests against the referendum in Nzerekore, Guinea’s second largest city. The Guinean government refuted the allegations.

Conde won the 2010 and 2015 elections, but critics said he became increasingly authoritarian.

Diallo told VOA he would highly recommend that the fight against corruption and human rights abuses should be a top priority for the military government. He said the military junta should make it possible for victims of human rights abuses during the Conde administration to get justice.

Regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) has condemned the September 5 coup. As the group meets this Thursday in an emergency summit to discuss the military takeover in Guinea, Diallo said he hopes ECOWAS will help Guinea put together a transition process that leads to a free and fair election.

Source: Voice of America