Three civilians were killed and a dozen others injured following an incident in eastern DR Congo where demonstrators set on fire a convoy of the UN mission, MONUSCO, on Tuesday, February 7.
Four peacekeepers’ trucks were violently attacked on Tuesday evening while on their way from a locality called Munigi in North Kivu province to Goma city, the UN mission said. As noted, rioters also stole cargo.
According to reports, the UN convoy was returning from a resupply mission north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, when assailants set four trucks on fire.
Other reports indicate that after vehicles were set on fire, a crowd tried to break into a container containing weapons and the peacekeepers opened fire, killing five people.
The incident followed protests in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, on Monday and Tuesday, against the East African regional force. The regional force was deployed in November 2022 to support the regional efforts to restore peace in eastern DR Congo.
Protestors are demanding that the regional force attacks the M23 rebels or leaves the country.
The protestors also blocked roads in Goma and vandalised shops and churches belonging to members of the Congolese Tutsi community which has been, for long, victims of endless hate speech and ethnic violence.
South Sudan government on Wednesday said it has formed a committee to engage Kenyan authorities over escalating border tensions.
South Sudan president, Salva Kiir Mayardit (Photo via Getty Images)
JUBA, FEBRUARY 8th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan government on Wednesday said it has formed a committee to engage Kenyan authorities over escalating border tensions.
This comes after armed herdsmen from the neighboring country encroached into South Sudan territory in Eastern Equatoria state this week.
In a statement, the presidency said President Salva Kiir Mayardit received security updates from the governor of Eastern Equatoria state Louis Lobong Lojore and that the meeting discussed the escalating insecurity along the border with Kenya.
“President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Wednesday met with a delegation from Eastern Equatoria State, headed by the State Governor, Louis Lobong Lojore to brief him about the recent security situation along the border between South Sudan and Kenya,” the presidency statement reads in part.
Governor Louis said while speaking to the press following the meeting that “a Joint Border Committee has been established to engage Kenyan authorities and the local communities to resolve border tension between the two Countries.”
The senior government official further stressed “that communities along border should work together and ensure that they share their resources amicably.” Sudan Post
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Portal Welby, has said that achieving peace in South Sudan will benefit other parts of the world that are grappling with crises including the people in Ukraine and will give them hope.
He made the remarks at All Saints Cathedral in Juba over the weekend during a homily at a service attended by thousands of Christians from the South Sudan Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Welby who was preaching about the importance of peace and reconciliation in the country pointed out that there is a force of darkness in South Sudan that required light from the Christians as written in the gospel of John.
“There is a darkness over South Sudan and many other countries in this world but John Chapter says ‘the light is not overcome by the darkness,’” he said.
The prelate said Christians are the light of South Sudan.
“People of Christ are the light of this nation. If South Sudan finds peace, the World will find hope, the women in Congo will rejoice if you find peace, the refugees will rejoice if you find peace and the soldiers in Ukraine will rejoice if you find peace,” he emphasized.
The spiritual leader of the Anglican Church said his heart is broken by the situation in South Sudan, that he is horrified and could hardly speak about the situation in the country.
Welby’s sermon touched several congregants at the service and Samuel Chol, who prays at the All Saints Cathedral, revealed that he was one of those touched by the message of healing and forgiveness.
“His message really appealed to our souls and he (Welby) touched me when he asked if we will live in peace and reconcile,” Chol said. “All these messages are his prayers and are pleasing and if we put them in our hearts and practice them as Christians before he leaves, we will realize stability and peace in this country.”
For her part, Irene Moses, another congregant, urged the citizens to take the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the pope, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland as an opportunity to open a new chapter. - Radio Tamazuj
The opening of the General Synod at the Church House on February 6, 2023, in London, England. Getty Images
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the religious head of the church, previously said that “God is not male or female” or “definable.”
“All human language about God is inadequate and to some degree metaphorical,” he said in 2018.
However, the Rev. Ian Paul, a member of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, was among those decrying it as a step too far.
“If the Liturgical Commission seeks to change this, then in an important way they will be moving the doctrine of the church away from being grounded in the Scriptures,” he told the outlet.
He stressed that “male and female imagery is not interchangeable,” while also claiming that critics were misreading the teachings.
“The use of male pronouns for God should not be understood as implying that God is male — which is a heresy. God is not sexed, unlike humanity,” he stressed.
The church confirmed it was investigating a possible shift away from male pronouns for God.In Pictures via Getty Images
“The fact that God is called ‘Father’ can’t be substituted by ‘Mother’ without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralized to ‘Parent’ without loss of meaning. Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways,” he stressed.
Prof. Helen King, the vice chairman of the synod’s gender and sexuality group, acknowledged that such “questions around gendered language and God have been around for decades, if not centuries.”
Even so, they “still have the power to bring out strong reactions,” she said.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (right) during the voting at Church House in London, on February 7, 2023.AFP via Getty Images
“Clearly God is not gendered, so why do we restrict our language for God in gendered ways?” she asked.
The group Women and the Church said that “a theological misreading of God as exclusively male is a driver of much-continuing discrimination and sexism against women.”
The Rev. Miranda Threlfall-Holmes also told the UK Times that the view that “God is a man” had been used to oppose women bishops.
The plan first emerged after a female reverend asked the commission if there was an update “to develop more inclusive language” given that “many of the prayers offered for use refer to God using male pronouns.”
The commission’s vice chair, Bishop of Lichfield Michael Ipgrave, replied that it had “been exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years.”
“After some dialogue … a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring,” Ipgrave wrote in a formal reply.
A spokesman for the Church of England stressed that the debate “is nothing new.”
“Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship,” the church rep said.
Still, the rep insisted that any changes would only apply to future teachings.
“There are absolutely no plans to abolish or substantially revise currently authorized liturgies, and no such changes could be made without extensive legislation,” the spokesperson said.
The Church’s Faith and Order Commission, which advises on theology, will work with the liturgical commission on looking at questions around gender terms, the spokesperson said. With Post wires New York Post
Mining and Blue Economy Ministry Cabinet Secretary, Salim Mvurya. FILE PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
Kenya has shelved a plan to ban the use of synthetic fishing materials, known as drifting fish aggregating devices, which attract hundreds of marine species, including tuna and non-tuna species in the Indian Ocean.
The government said the withdrawal of the ban will allow further discussion with European Union countries and other few distant water fishing nations pushing for more time to use the unrecyclable materials.
Mining and Blue Economy Ministry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said Kenya supports Indian Ocean Tuna Commission recommendations to ban the use of unrecycled materials in Oceans but there is a need for further consultation on how to ban it without affecting fishers.
Mr Mvurya said there are four proposals for discussion on the conservation of tuna and tuna-like resources in the Indian Ocean among them the reduction of synthetic marine debris and the use of natural or biodegradable materials.
“In the spirit of harmony and to make it easier to reach a consensus on dFADs management, I hereby direct that the position submitted by Kenya on the issue dFADs management be withdrawn for the time being to allow for further consultations with other IOTC member countries, Scientific research communities, stakeholders and local affected communities to achieve broad consensus on the sustainable management of these shared resources,” said Mr Mvurya.
Some of the issues discussed in the meeting include proposals towards the rebuilding of the overfished yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean.
The committee noted that the Indian Ocean was experiencing overfishing as a result of juvenile harvesting by the use of illegal fishing equipment.
In a bid to reduce synthetic fishing materials such as dFADS, the committee recommended the reduction of the number of dFADs from the current limit of 300 down to 150 as a precautionary approach which needs to be executed urgently.
“If the overharvesting of the juvenile fish is prevented, the fish will grow to bigger sizes hence improving the stocks of tuna in the Indian Ocean and also increasing the fish availability.
“Kenya will also benefit as Liwatoni Fisheries Complex will also have a source of raw materials for operations creating jobs and opportunities for value addition from the tuna resources,” said the technical committee in the joint communique. By ANTHONY KITIMO, Business Daily
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