Day: February 5, 2023

Pope Francis appealed Sunday to the people of South Sudan to lay down their “weapons of hatred” at an open-air mass on the final day of his pilgrimage to a country blighted by violence and poverty.

Large crowds of ecstatic worshippers streamed into the John Garang Mausoleum in the capital Juba to see the 86-year-old pontiff, who has made peace and reconciliation the theme of his three-day trip to the world’s newest nation.

“Let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge… Let us overcome the dislikes and aversions that over time have become chronic and risk pitting tribes and ethnic groups against one another,” Francis said in his homily.

He voiced hope that the people of South Sudan, a country that has been at war for about half its young life, would “build a reconciled future”.

People waved national flags and sang “Welcome holy father to South Sudan” as the Argentine pontiff moved through the crowds in his popemobile before delivering the mass to an audience local authorities put at around 70,000.

Francis later flew out of Juba for Rome. He is due to hold a press conference on board his plane along with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who joined him on the trip.

It was his first papal visit to the largely Christian country since it achieved independence from mainly Muslim Sudan in 2011 after a long and bloody civil war.

Despite the initial revelry in 2011, South Sudan was at war with itself just two years later in a conflict that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced four million.

A peace deal was signed in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar but many of its conditions remain unmet and violence continues to roil the country.

The wheelchair-bound pontiff, who himself tried to broker peace during the civil war, received a rapturous welcome throughout his visit.

“I came to see the pope bring change to the country. For many years we’ve been at war, but we need peace. We want the pope to pray for us,” said James Agiu, 24.

He was among the many who stayed overnight to join the mass at the John Garang mausoleum — built in honour of South Sudan’s rebel hero who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2005.

On Saturday, Francis met victims of the civil war, who were brought to Juba from various camps, and urged the government to resume the peace process and restore “dignity” to those affected by conflict.

With 2.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs), and another two million outside the country, South Sudan is witness to the worst refugee crisis in Africa.

“I have been suffering in my life. That is why I’m here, so the pope can bless me and my family,” 32-year-old Josephine James told AFP at Sunday’s mass.

“Ever since he arrived, people have been happy. I am very happy.”

The papal visit has been closely followed in the devoutly Christian country of 12 million people, where church leaders played a key role in protecting civilians during times of conflict.

Source: National News Agency

PRETORIA— South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) says there is “no immediate crisis” with regards to the expiry of a nuclear agreement with the United States of America (USA).

This as the South Africa and USA Nuclear Cooperation Agreement expired in December last year – leading to fears that the Koeberg nuclear power station may run out of fuel.

In a statement, the department emphasised that a new agreement between government and the USA is under negotiation, which was initiated in 2018.

“Negotiations on a new agreement are ongoing and the parties have resolved to expedite the process, while engaging on measures to ensure continuity of cooperation during the negotiations of the New Nuclear Cooperations Agreement.

“We are confident and strongly believe that there is commitment between the Parties to conclude the new Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to ensure mutual economic benefit between the two countries,” the DMRE said.

The department assured that South Africa’s Koeberg power station is not in immediate danger of running out of fuel after the USA withdrew authorisation for fuel supply to the power station, while also acknowledging the urgency for a resolution.

“Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant is currently being supplied with nuclear fuel from Westinghouse Electric Company LLC from the USA to load [Koeberg] Unit 1, and Framatome from France to load [Koeberg] Unit 2. The nuclear fuel for current loading cycle that is in progress has already been purchased and delivered at Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant.

“For the next cycle, Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant is expecting fuel to be delivered by Westinghouse Electric Company LLC early 2024. Therefore, there is no immediate crisis which could exacerbate the load shedding from Eskom due to Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant.

“However, the Department notes that urgent resolution is needed to allow Westinghouse Electric Company LLC to provide fuel supply,” the department said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

JUBA— Pope Francis has been trying to console the long-suffering people of South Sudan as he opened his first full day in the country on Saturday.

Meeting with bishops, priests and deacons at St Theresa’s Cathedral in Juba, he asked people to challenge injustice amid an ethnic conflict that has led to years of fighting.

He appealed to his brothers and sisters in the church to cultivate the skills to step in on behalf of people, and raise their voices against injustice and prevarication.

“It is precisely this art of stepping into the middle of our brothers and sisters that the church’s pastors need to cultivate; the ability to step into the middle of their sufferings and tears, into the middle of their hunger for God and their thirst for love,” he said.

He added that deceit and injustice crushes people and condemned what he called “the use of violence to conduct business in the shadow of conflict.”

Francis also highlighted the plight of South Sudanese women, half of whom are married before age 18, are subject to sexual violence and face the world’s highest maternal mortality rate.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said in a report last year women and girls in South Sudan live a “hellish existence.”

Pope Francis was welcomed by Christians in Juba. Local resident Mary Amos, said: “We are very happy to see the Pope here to visit us, we are proud.”

Another local resident, Joyce Severino Wani, added: “I feel very happy, of course, the coming of our Pope in South Sudan wanting peace, we are very happy, the family of South Sudan are very happy.”

Pope Francis, who is travelling with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Presbyterian head of the Church of Scotland, is spending three days in the country and will hold a Mass on Sunday.

They hope to draw global attention to the country’s plight.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

NAIROBI, Feb 5 (NNN-GNA) — The European Union has threatened to blacklist Kenya over corruption and money laundering, revisiting an old problem Nairobi has struggled to contain.

EU Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger said Kenya’s reluctance to curb corruption and money laundering could scare off investors. She told a media briefing over the upcoming European Union-Kenya Business Forum with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance that Nairobi may also face restrictions.

“For us, we think that to fight corruption is in the best interest of Kenya because maybe this is the single most determinant of investment. And also, Kenya is on the watchlist for money laundering,” said Geiger.

“If Kenya is not making an effort, it will be blacklisted and that has a lot of very negative consequences. The most important one is that investors are shying away.”

Geiger was reacting to the recent corruption ranking index by Transparency International.

Kenya was last week ranked 123 least corrupt nations out of 180 countries, according to the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.

The global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption ranked Kenya at 123 out of 180 countries and territories assessed with a score of 32 out of 100, a slight improvement from a score of 30 points in 2021.

In the just-released findings on Tuesday, Kenya’s score of 32 points matched the sub-Saharan average score of 32 but fell below the global average score of 43.

According to Transparency International, a score below 50 indicates serious levels of public sector corruption.

A 2022 report submitted to the US Congress, also ranked Kenya among the world’s top money laundering hotspots.

“I was struck by the fact that it only improved by 2 points, but it improved even slightly. But sometimes an improvement is relative because the others are bad,” she said.

The EU is also concerned that President William Ruto’s government is yet to make an attempt at fighting corruption and singled out procurement as one of the areas where graft has multiplied.

The CBK, in 2016, affirmed that the banking sector was vulnerable to suspicious activities such as money laundering from lawbreakers. But in September 2022, President William Ruto said that the government was working with CBK to review the capping of money so that Kenyans can transact from Ksh1 million ($8,000), without notifying the regulator.

“Many have reverted to storing money under their mattresses, at great security risk. This is clearly not the intention of the anti-money laundering regulations,” said Ruto. But the EU warned that unless the country was determined to fight graft, the slight improvement by the TI could become worse.

Geiger said should the country fail in its mandate, it will be barred from doing business with EU member countries.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

DAR ES SALAAM— THE Tanzanian government is on Feb 15 expected to sign an agreement of a project dubbed ‘Grid Imara’ worth about 1tri/- to restructure and stabilise the electricity situation in the country, Energy Minister January Makamba informed the National Assembly.

Moreover, the government is planning to carry out maintenance of the national grid to tackle power outages problems in many parts of the country. Makamba revealed this while contributing implementation report of the Parliamentary Committee for Energy and Minerals for the past one year.

“The project will involve 26 components and this will be a road to end the problem of electricity infrastructure as well as increase power generation in the country,” said Makamba.

According to him, the project will, among other things, help to remove the existing gap in the supply and transmission of electricity in the country.

Elaborating on the issue of power outages, he indicated that the big challenge leading to the problem is dilapidated infrastructure.

“The available infrastructure for transporting and supplying electricity is dilapidated…the infrastructure does not cater for the existing demand and its maintenance has not been done for quite some time now,” noted the minister.

Presenting the committee’s report, Deputy Chairman, Seif Gulamali who is also a Member of Parliament for Manonga (CCM) indicated that the electricity demand in the national grid has continued to 1,391.65 megawatts as of Jan 17, this year from 1,324.12 megawatts indicated last year showing an increase of 5.1 percent.

Besides, the committee also noted the unsatisfactory trend of the electricity situation in the country, citing power outages recorded in the many parts of the country recorded August, last year.

Gulamali pointed out that the ministry has cited the problem of drought which has caused drying up of water sources hampering hydro-power generation to operate below the required levels.

Likewise, he noted the shortage of natural gas which can operate power plants and dilapidated infrastructure for generation, transmission and supply of electricity.

Based on the above challenges, the committee advised the government to take immediate steps to tackle the problem including the use of natural gas and encouraging power generation by using renewable energy.

“Taking into account that the many projects which have been outlined in the third National Five-Year Development Plan and the CCM Manifesto are still underway, major steps should be taken to solve the problem…the impacts of power cuts to the economy are very huge,” he said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK