APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - Ethiopia will start supplying power to its neighbor, Sudan, beginning October 2010, APA learns here on Tuesday.

Various power connection works were undertaken between the two countries since the past few years with the support of the World Bank, which has allocated over $100 million for the power interconnection works.

Accordingly, it has been reported that the Ethiopian Electricity and Power Corporation (EEPCo) will start to supply power to Sudan within a month time.

EEPCo indicated that the power supply to Sudan will start as soon as maintenance work on the Gilgel Gibe II hydro-power production plant, which collapsed early this year, is completed later this month.

However, it is not yet clear the amount of power that will be exported to Sudan and the money Ethiopia will obtain by exporting power to Sudan, which is currently supplying fuel to Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, home to around 80 million people, is currently undertaking a multi-billion dollar investment on hydro-electric projects, and is planning to generate around 10,000 megawatt by 2015.

Currently, Ethiopia is generating around 2,000 megawatt, and this will rise to over 3,000 megawatt by 2011 when on-going projects are finalized.

In 2008/2009, Ethiopia signed an electricity export agreement with Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya.

Ethiopia has already completed the Ethio–Sudan transmission line of 230 kilo volt interconnection project, which is about 321 kilometers long.

Moreover, the Ethio–Djibouti 230 kilo volt interconnection of 280 kilometers is another project that is expected to be commissioned in the near future.

The National

Khartoum is preparing to lose most of its state revenue if Sudan’s restive south votes to secede in an independence referendum early next year, taking with it most of the country’s oil resources.

“Frankly … we don’t know if Sudan is going to be split or united,” Abdel al Jailani, the Sudanese minerals minister, told Reuters. “If the south does secede – you know 60 per cent of our budget comes from [oil] – we have to sit and think of another alternative.”

John Duku, the former Sudanese mission chief to Kenya, said a secession was likely after the referendum, which is scheduled for January 9.

“The unity between north and south Sudan has died,” Mr Duku said last week in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. “There is no more unity.”

If the referendum were delayed, southern Sudan’s parliament would vote to secede because “key parts” of a 2005 peace deal between the north and south had been “violated”, he added.

Mr Duku, who is working on the referendum campaign but does not represent the southern Sudanese government, said Khartoum had reneged on an agreement not to apply Islamic law in the Sudanese capital.

Unlike the northerners, most southern Sudanese are not Muslim, counting themselves either Christian or animist.

Cirino Ofuho, the southern Sudanese minister of presidential affairs, said Mr Duku’s views did not represent those of his government. Officials were not supposed to comment on the referendum, Mr Ofuho said.  Sudan, which produces about 490,000 barrels per day of crude from 6.7 billion barrels of proved reserves, mostly located in its south, is sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest oil producer after the OPEC members Nigeria and Angola.

Mr al Jailani said Khartoum planned to expand gold production from the north of the country to make up for lost oil-export revenue.
 

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM, Sept 7 (Reuters) - South Sudan's army said on Tuesday it planned to buy its first transport helicopters in the near future and hoped to build up a full air force if southerners chose independence in a looming referendum.

North Sudan's army, which fought the south in a decades-long civil war, told Reuters the southern helicopter purchase would be seen as a "threat" and a violation of the 2005 peace deal that ended the conflict.

The statements will raise concerns among analysts who have warned that both north and south Sudan's armies have been re-arming in the build-up to the politically charged referendum, due in January 2011, and that there is a risk of a return to conflict between the former civil war foes.

Southerners were promised a vote on whether to secede in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Africa's longest civil war, a conflict which killed 2 million people, drove 4 million from their homes and destabilised the whole region.

Relations between both sides have remained troubled and southern leaders have accused Khartoum of trying to disrupt the vote to keep control of the south's oil reserves.

"In the very near future, we want to buy transport helicopters so that we are able to supply our forces during the rainy season. The terrain is very difficult in south Sudan," said southern army (SPLA) spokesman Kuol Deim Kuol.

He dismissed as "a great lie" reports in Sudanese state media and other outlets that the south had already placed an order for 10 helicopters from a Russian supplier. Kuol added the south had the right to modernise its former guerrilla force.

SPLA chief of staff James Hoth told Reuters the southern army had set out plans for an air force as far back as 2007 and would carry them out if southerners chose independence.

"Yes we are planning, but not now ... If the vote is for unity, we will share the national air force. If there is a vote for separation we will build up our own aircraft."

A spokesman for the northern Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the south had already placed the helicopter order.

"This is a clear violation of the peace deal and also it is a threat ... This is a violation because the government of south Sudan is an internal government and has no right to have separate international relations. It is buying helicopters and the contract is in the name of the government of Sudan."

The rules of the north-south peace deal ban either side from replenishing arms or ammunition without the approval of a Joint Defence Board, but analysts say that is being flouted.

The northern spokesman added the SPLA had no mandate in the 2005 accord to arm itself with an air force, but it could do what it wanted if the south split away after the referendum.

Separately, the SPLA said Uganda's brutal Lord's Resistance Army rebels killed eight people in a night-time raid on a village near Yambio, capital of south Sudan's remote Western Equatoria State, on Saturday.

"They assembled these people in one place and started chopping their heads with their machetes. It is part of Khartoum's policy of terrorising people," said Kuol.

Khartoum regularly denies southern accusations that it is backing the LRA and other militias to destabilise the region. (Additional reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood)

TWO elephants have been killed in Toro-Semliki wildlife reserve in western Uganda by poachers who crossed over from the Congo.

Sources said one of the poachers was intercepted with elephant ivory and was being held by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces. The sources added that the elephants were butchered on Wednesday and the carcasses were discovered the following day.

“It is unusual for poachers to cross over from the DR Congo and kill endangered species undetected,” the source said.
In a separate interview, John Makombo, the acting head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), said the poacher who is being held is a Ugandan from Ntoroko and not a Congolese.

“UWA is working with security operatives to identify the ownership of the gun recovered from the poacher,” he said. “It is possible that he was working for someone from Congo which has a porous border. Many poachers prefer working in Congo and use Uganda as a trafficking route.”

He also said UWA will share information with a watchdog called the Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants and the Lusaka Task Agreement Force, which polices wildlife crime. Uganda has 5,000 elephants and the number is increasing after the population had slumped in the 1970s due to political and civil unrest.

Poachers killed a lot of wildlife including elephants, which are key tourist attractions. The black and white rhinos were driven into extinction.

Elephants are categorised as endangered species, according to the World Conservation Union, meaning that they are likely to disappear if nothing is done to protect them and their habitats. Locally, a kilo of ivory goes for sh120,000. The value in the Far East is about $600.

Although last week’s incident is the first case of killing elephants in Semliki, elephants in Queen Elizabeth National Park cross over to Congo.

“This is an ecological system and that is why Uganda and the DR Congo collaborate in managing the animals,” said Okello Obongo, the chief park warden.

“Large mammals do not know boundaries and the most important thing is to protect them irrespective of where they are,” said Obongo. - New Vision

Majur Deng Nhial, Bor Globe Administrator

Thanks to Asharq Al-Awsat for its invasive interviews with SPLM‘s key political figures over a forthcoming Sudan referendum. Observing Pagan Amum and Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth doing interviews with the London-based paper, their responses were exhilarated, full of enthusiasm and high spirit to the governed and the SPLM Party. It seems that Mr. Amum becomes an outcast in SPLM leadership, but one thing is unique about him. He is so bold. He never keeps his voice low in the face of the tyrannical government in Khartoum when it tricks. Why does it matter for cliques to sharpen their horns toward his political career?  

Maggie Fick /South Sudan Watch

JUBA, Sudan--“You are the same people,” the southern Sudanese vice president Riek Machar remarked to a conference room full of elites and traditional leaders from the Lou and Jikany clans of the Nuer tribe. “What is the problem?” he asked, seeming to be genuinely perplexed as to the causes of continued conflict between these two groups.

“If it is the land, if is the water, if it is the fish, can we not discuss it?” the vice president, himself a Nuer from a different clan native to the areas west of the Lou and Jikany peoples, continued. “Water has been here all this time. The fish have been here. So why is there conflict now?”

By “now,” Machar meant in relatively recent times. He noted that there have been serious problems between the Lou and Jikany people in the area of the south which they share since 1993, when clashes between the Lou and the Cie Kuek (a section of the Jikany clan) left a lasting impact of displacement along the Sobat River that remains a conflict trigger today.

This particular area of Nuerland--bisected by the Sobat river which runs through the heart of the “Sudd,” Africa’s largest remaining intact wetlands--has suffered from internal insecurity for decades. Cattle raids, revenge killings, problems between local administrators, boundary disputes, displacement…these are just some of the problems caused by the persistent mistrust and enmity between these two clans of the same tribe.

A friend working in this area explained to me that the area which the Lou and Jikany share, called Wanding, is strategically situated along the fertile fishing grounds and swampy areas of the Sobat. Both communities rely on this area because they are primarily pastoralists, which make them reliant upon cattle grazing grounds (known as toic) and the river for fishing. When drought comes to the Wanding area, fishing becomes more difficult and the toic shrinks, which sparks conflict between the Lou and Jikany communities due to the increased competition for limited resources.

Peace conferences between the Lou and Jikany elites and traditional leaders yield resolutions and promises that are often broken when tensions between the two groups spike for one reason or another. The meeting in the southern capital Juba where Machar spoke was a “brainstorming workshop” between these leaders. Although I do not doubt that this meeting served as a useful forum for the two communities to discuss the issues their people are facing, it is hard not to note the irony of the western jargon, which was necessary given that the meeting was sponsored by USAID.

It is easy, however, to be a critic, and harder to understand what exactly could be done to bring an end to the extremely localized tensions between various groups in southern Sudan.

Vice President Machar made the case for why finding the answer to this question is so important for the future of the southern Sudanese, who will likely choose to form their own country in their self-determination referendum in January 2011:

Sustainable peace is connected to development. If people don’t see changes in their lives…If their kids don’t go to school… then [these areas] will continue to have insecurity. But if there are schools, development, people will change their attitudes toward life.

By Scott A Morgan    www.borglobe.com

We have seen the Statements by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice regarding the horrific rapes that occurred earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is a investigation underway by the United Nations regarding the actions taken by the Peacekeepers. But what of the United States itself?

 At this time the US Military is conducting training for Elements of the Congolese Army to respect Human Rights. It is indeed possible by the end of the year that a Covert Operation against the LRA could Operate on Congolese Soil. This appears to be a Cookie Cutter Solution imposed by an outside force. The Congolese People deserve better from the United States………

By Dr James Okuk

August 16, 2010 (SSNA) -- For the separatist the postponement of the referendum is an evil because it will lead to the delay of the democratic declaration of South Sudan Independence, and for the unionists too the conduct of the referendum when some crucial issues remain unattended is a greatest evil because it will lead to undesirable breakup of the unified Sudan. Thus, the two options pose some bad news, depending on the side of the angle one looks at each of them.

However, postponing the referendum is part of the CPA deal but declaring the independence of South Sudan unilaterally (UDI) is not and, thus, a violation of the CPA; meaning invitation of war if both the divorcing partners are prepared for it. Is the SPLM/A prepared for a victorious war? Is the NCP/SAF prepared for a war of invasion too? For how long will that war go on before another peace deal is reached? These are the critical questions a wise and a strategic person or a group could ask at this critical stage, and I believe it is the very questions the SPLM PB are delivering on now before coming up with a final decision on the matter of the postponement of the referendum.

Arrogance and hard-lining is not the best option most of the time. After all it is better late with slowness of assurance than never with rush of uncertainty. Also we have to acknowledge what the Christian Jesus said that if your enemy demands that you carry him for one mile, take him for two miles instead and he or she will hate it more as it become boring.

If I were the SPLM PB, I will accept the request of the Referendum Commission to postpone the issue for one year instead of the six months demanded so that next time they don't get any chance to play the tricks of timing and procedures. Meanwhile in the year, I will demand from the NCP and Khartoum to carry on some developmental projects in the South since those of the USAID and World Bank failed to do anything great development in the South so far and so good.

Meanwhile as the postponement thrives, I will also try to rally the world support at the UN and lobby for a quick decision from the International Arbitration Court of Justice, incase the South opt for a UDI after having tolerated the postponements of the referendum and tricks of the NCP and Khartoum on the issue. Not only this, but also I would have unified all the Southerners under the cover of reconciliation from the South-South dialogue for any eventuality in the aftermath of 9th January 2012.

This is my take in brief and I hope it gets a hearing hear in the SPLM PB. In truth and sincere wisdom we should trust!!!!

Dr James Okuk is a concerned Southerner reachable at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand.” –Plato.

By Luk Kuth Dak

August 16, 2010 (SSNA) -- Have you ever asked yourself the question, why there’re some great leaders and some who aren’t? The answer is, great leaders are those individual politicians who have an informed passion for politics and serving others. And passion is essential because it plays a major role in making tough decisions that might never be popular, but that must be made for the greater good.

Meanwhile, those leaders who aren’t great, are virtually the ones who have an uninformed passion for politics or serving others. They become politicians purely for individualistic purposes- mostly- in search of fame and wealth. Thus, an uninformed passion is as dangerous as any other form of ignorance.

Certainly, those kinds of selfish individualistic politicians not only are they toxic to their own societies, but they are dangerous to their nations, in that they wouldn’t hesitate or have a second thought, to destroy their people and nation, if it fulfills their personal wants and needs. Therefore culling them should be the duty of everyone in South Sudan.

To prove my point, you shouldn’t look further than the “Jallaba golden boys” Dr. Lam Akol, and most certainly, the purported Professor, David De Chand.

However, the sad truth is, we are all being presumed guilty by association with those individuals. And in David’s case, I’m twice as guilty. Firstly, by both of us being South Sudanese. And secondly, by both being Nuer, even though he doesn’t speak a word of the Nuer language, nor he behaves as a Nuer should behave. Not to mention, of course, that his name “David De Chand” sounds more French than the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Besides, in a recent interview with Al Rayaam, a pro government Arabic daily newspaper, the congenital liar, David De Chand was quoted as saying, “ The time is not right for the South Sudan to secede; We shall not accept to be cut off from Sudan.” Then he was asked about the imposition of the Islamic faith on none Muslims, especially in the so-called Sudan’s national capital, Khartoum. De Chand wasted no time. “There’s no such a thing as Islam’s imposition taking place; And by the way, the majority of South Sudanese are now Muslims; Mosques exist along Churches because there is freedom of worship; Our problem in the Sudan is political. It’s neither racial nor religious,” he disgorged.

Now, that’s as treacherous as it gets. And it had to hurt, especially for some of us, who identify themselves as Nuer. I can go on and on again, but, I think you got the message.

In essence, as an anchorman and a reporter, I was privileged enough to get the sense of what great leaders are all about, and what they all have in common. Based on that exposure, there no is shadow of a doubt in my humble opinion, and that of many other South Sudanese people that, Honorable, Ustaz Pagam Amum, the distinguished Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) is indeed one of the greatest leaders in South Sudan and a true patriot, who always has the best interest of the people of South Sudan at heart, and stands up for what is the right thing to do.

Indeed, I’m livid. Instead of thanking the man and extolling him for all he has done, and for waking up every morning, and going to bed every night, thinking about the welfare of South Sudan, he has now become the target of cheap shots bashing, name-calling and character assassination, by the sellout flunkies and NCP Southern accomplices in the so-called SPLM-DC; who are engaging in the king-making of Dr. Lam Akol.

Like most Southerners, I can fully understand the reasons behind the relentless assault and the savage campaign waged by the NCP/NIF bigots, against Ustaz Pagan Amum. That’s their prerogative. But, when the assault comes from some wicket South Sudanese, it can’t be anything less than a treason. And those who commit treason belong behind bars.

Pagan Amum is a hero, indeed.

The author is a Sudanese journalist and a former news anchor at Juba Radio. He can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it