JUBA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Monday assured the country he would implement the revitalized peace agreement which ended years of conflict despite the challenges facing it.
While addressing a news conference in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, Kiir called for unity in the implementation of the peace deal and assured the country that there was no cause for alarm.
"We all considered this agreement as the path to our stability and I am committed with our partners to implement it. I come before you today to affirm my government's commitment to peace in our country," Kiir told journalists.
He said full implementation of the peace deal cannot be done without having a sustainable dialogue among the parties, noting that parties to the agreement do at times "hit minor bumps on the road" during the process.
"There are challenges we need to confront honestly as a people along with our partners to maintain total peace and bring prosperity to our people," he said.
The president's remarks came after the recent announcement by the main opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-In-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) to withdraw from the various security mechanisms under the 2018 revitalized peace deal.
Riek Machar, first vice president in the transitional unity government and leader of SPLM/A-IO, cited "unprovoked" attacks on his troops prompting fears of a return to war as the reason for the withdrawal.
Machar's party also criticized the SPLM-In Government under Kiir for irregularly attending meetings of these various key security mechanisms, saying this has stalled progress on the peace process, especially on the security arrangements. - Xinhua
Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente has indicated that the government has been dolling out subsidies in order to help farmers to access chemical fertilisers at a relatively low cost in the midst of rising prices.
He made the observation on Monday, April 4, while presenting government actions related to agriculture inputs to the plenary session of both Chambers of Parliament.
The Premier told legislators that fertiliser prices rose drastically on the global market because of various factors.
They include, he said, the Covid-19 pandemic effects which disrupted the supply chain such as through rising the transport cost, major fertiliser producing countries that cut exports in a bid to increase their local [agricultural] production, as well as the hike in gas tariffs used as one of the raw materials in fertiliser manufacturing. Consequently, imported fertilisers were more expensive by the time they arrived on the local market.
In a bid to continue promoting the use of fertilisers and supporting farmers to get access to them, Ngirente said, the government has been increasing the budget for fertiliser subsidies as it more than doubled from Rwf5 billion in the fiscal year 2018-2019 to Rwf13 billion in the current fiscal year 2021-2022.
The move, he said, helped ease the cost for farmers.
For instance, he said that for NPK NPK – one of the commonly used fertilisers in the country which is made of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium – the government was providing Rwf107 per kilogramme for the farmer, but increased the financial support to Rwf475 a kilogramme after the fertiliser price hike, representing a fourfold increment.
“As such, a farmer only pays Rwf882 per a kilogramme of NPK instead of Rwf1,357. This shows the role of subsidies and how the government takes care of agriculture development and supporting our farmers,” he said.
According to accounts from some farmers, chemical fertiliser use significantly increases farm productivity, sometimes doubling or tripling it.
The Premier indicated that the Crop Intensification Programme (CIP) – which started in 2008 improved farmers’ understanding on the importance of chemical fertiliser use in agriculture production.
Such a situation, he said, later resulted in the increase in the [average] fertiliser use in the country, indicating that it rose to 60 kilogrammes per hectare in 2021 from 32 kilogrammes per hectare in 2017, implying an increase of 87.5 per cent over the last four years.
The average fertiliser use in Rwanda is way above that of Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 20 kilogrammes per hectare. But, it still falls short of the global level average – 140 kilogrammes of fertiliser per hectare, according to the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB).
Ngirente observed that the current progress is promising towards the achievement of that target.
He also said that the government was in a drive to encourage farmers to use a mixture of organic and chemical fertilisers in order to optimise farm yields, and indicated that there are also some private entities that were making composted manure from organic wastes.
MP Theoneste Begumisa Safari said that the rising fertiliser prices on the international market should stir interest in the local production of this crop growth stimulant.
“Increasing fertiliser prices are a challenge to farmers. There is a need for efforts to produce it locally,” he said.
For MP Christine Mukabunani, more efforts should be invested in promoting the use of organic fertilisers among farmers.
“Some farmers are requesting a Government subsidy on organic fertiliser… Instead of putting more money in chemical fertiliser, you should invest it in scaling up the use of manure so as to gradually cut the former's use,” she said, arguing that consumers tend to prefer foods produced by using organic fertiliser instead of the chemical one.
Construction of fertiliser blending factory
Meanwhile, the Premier talked about the construction of a fertiliser blending factory which it said would help Rwanda reduce reliance on fertiliser imports, though he pointed out that it would be importing some of the raw materials to use in producing this farm input.
It was estimated that the factory, which would be located in Bugesera District, would cost $38 million (about Rwf38 billion at the current exchange rates), and the capacity to blend 100,000 tonnes of fertilisers annually, according to data from the RAB.
The project is a joint venture involving Morocco’s OCP Group – one of the leading exporters of phosphate fertilisers in the world – the Government of Rwanda and a local firm—Agro-Processing Trust Corporation (APTC).
With Rwanda’s annual demand for fertilisers at 53,000 tonnes as of 2019, as per RAB, once the factory begins production, Rwanda will have a surplus of fertilisers, potentially opening up a new avenue for export diversification.
Initially, the factory was expected to be operational by the end of 2019. However, Ngirente told legislators that its construction works were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We hope that in the coming few years, the factory will be helping us to produce the fertilisers we need in the country,” he said, without specifying when it will be operational. By Emmanuel Ntirenganya, New Times
STONED:Raila's chopper was attacked on Friday, April 1, in Uasin Gishu Image:JUNET MOHAMED
Suna East MP Junet Mohamed claims he has been summoned to appear before the DCI detectives in relation to the stoning of ODM leader Raila Odinga's chopper.
The MP shared the invitation from the DCI through his Twitter account.
“Good morning Junet Mohamed. My name is John Gachomo from DCI headquarters, I am kindly summoning you to our offices for an interview on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in regards to the stoning of Raila Odinga’s chopper in Soy constituency in Uasin Gishu County.” Kindly comply.
Junet was the first person to share the attack of Raila's chopper on Friday as they made their way to Mzee Kibor's home to pay tribute to the late Eldoret businessman.
The move has been widely castigated across the country as leaders calls for arrest and prosecution of the people behind the attack.
Three suspects allegedly involved in the planning of the attack have already been summoned, including Soy MP Caleb Kositany, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi and Uasin Ngishu county speaker David Kiplagat as the main planners and funders of the violence meted on the ODM leader.
In his statement after the attack, Raila blamed Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago and Kositany for the attack.
The Azimio presidential flag bearer Raila had just started his three-day campaign in the North-Rift region which is believed to be DP William Ruto's stronghold. By Kevin Cheruiyot,The Star
A number of activities are going on in the Albertine Graben area, among which include oil development and exploration. PHOTO | PAUL MURUNGI/photo courtesy Daily Monitor
UNOC signed a Joint Application Agreement with China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) towards the end of last week.
The two companies will submit the joint application to the Ministry of Energy that will include, “discussions expected to culminate into the award of an exploration license for the block.”
“The leaders of the two companies earlier today signed documents regarding the joint application in Kampala,” UNOC said in a statement, which noted that the Pelican-Crane block has a high potential and is one of the biggest exploration blocks in the Albertine Graben.
Mr Peter Muliisa, the UNOC corporate affairs manager, said at the weekend the joint agreement is an interim structure and a guiding framework for UNOC and CNOOC on how to file the application.
“Once we file the application, we shall negotiate the production sharing agreement with government and sign it so that it becomes the agreement that regulates our conduct,” Mr Muliisa said, noting that UNOC will represent government with a 20 percent of state participation, and a further commercial participating interest of 10 percent for UNOC, with an option to buy a further 10 percent.
First drilling offshore prospects for the Pelican and Crane oil block started almost a decade ago, according to documents from Heritage Oil, one of the companies that had acquired licences for oil exploration in the vast Albertine Graben before exiting in 2010.
An opportunity for the two oil companies to jointly apply for an exploration license emerged in 2018, which followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Beijing, China.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Dr Josephine Wapakabulo, the former UNOC boss and Mr Fang Zhi, the CNOOC chairman.
It indicated that UNOC and CNOOC would work together to develop a block in the Albertine Graben to ensure that more oil is discovered to support the projected production profile, now under development.
UNOC also wants to create an avenue to grow its exploration capabilities as well as team up with CNOOC “to grow their partnership into other operations in and outside of Uganda,” UNOC said.
Other exploration activities
Uganda launched the second licensing round for petroleum exploration at the ninth East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Mombasa, Kenya during May 2019.
This round covers five blocks in the Albertine Graben, among which include Block 01 Avivi Area covering 1,026 kilometres, Block 02 Omuka covering 750 kilometres, Kasuruban covering 285 kilometres, Block 04 Turaco covering 637 kilometres and Block 05 Ngaji covering 1230 kilometres.
Most of these blocks are situated at the northern tip of Lake Albert across Nebbi, Nwoya, Masindi and Kiryandongo districts.
Mr Ernest Rubondo, the Petroleum Authority of Uganda chief executive officer, noted that only 15 percent of the Albertine Graben is currently under licence, noting that current oil resource volumes are expected to increase if the ongoing exploration works by Oranto Petroleum and Armour Energy Uganda Limited in Ngassa and Kanywataba are successful.
According to the Peroleum Authority of Uganda, the Ngassa exploration block is located in Kikuube and Hoima districts, and were initially part of the exploration areas licensed to Tullow acquired between 2003 and 2008. The license for the Kanywatabe exploration are is located in Ntoroko District. By Paul Murungi, Daily Monitor
South Sudan's rival parties on Sunday reached a breakthrough and signed an agreement on the formation of a unified armed forces command.
The deal was reached in Juba following mediation by neighbouring Sudan.
A deadlock between the parties to the South Sudan peace agreement on security arrangements had been holding up the implementation of the 2018 peace deal.
Tensions between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and SPLM/A-IO leader Riek Machar have spiralled recently, triggering fears of a return to conflict in the country.
“It is important that we silence the guns so that South Sudan can prosper…Not everything is perfect but we want to say that we want to move the country forward,” said Minister of Mining, Martin Gama Abucha, who signed the deal on behalf of Machar’s party the SPLM/A-IO.
“This is to inform everyone that we have agreed today to unify the military command. We have agreed to divide the positions because peace is precious. We have to agree so that we develop the country,” added Kiir’s national security adviser Tut Gatluak Manime.
The deal sets out terms to integrate opposition commanders into the armed forces. The parties signed a matrix for the creation of a unified armed forces command within a week. They also agreed to graduate and deploy the unified forces in training camps within a period not exceeding two months.
The parties also agreed on a regular meeting between President Kiir and his five deputies to build trust among the parties. - Radio Tamazuj
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