African press review 30 June 2018

The United Nations calls for serious peace talks to end South Sudan's civil war. Will Sudan's Omar al-Bashir be arrested at this weekend's AU summit in Nouakchott? How much will the Gambian government get from the sale of former president Yahya Jammeh's planes and automobiles? What's happening to Lake Turkana?

The United Nations has called for all-encompassing peace talks and the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in South Sudan.

Bintou Keita, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the Security Council earlier this week that only an inclusive revitalised peace deal could end South Sudan's five-year civil war.

Keita was briefing the Council on ongoing efforts to end the conflict. “Peace in South Sudan will not be achieved or sustained merely on the basis of a bilateral deal between the two rival leaders,” she said.

The story makes the top of the front page in regional paper the East African.

On Wednesday President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar reached agreement on a framework for peace in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and committed to a permanent ceasefire.

Previous ceasefire agreements have been broken, some just hours after they were signed.

The latest deal has been criticised because it gives control of the southern oil industry to neighbouring Sudan and because it will involve the deployment of foreign peacekeepers on South Sudanese soil. The Khartoum agreement also proposes dividing South Sudan into three regions, with Juba, Wau and Malakal as capital cities.

Riek Machar has asked for time to discuss the deal with members of his own rebel group and other opponents of the Juba regime.

Bashir to attend AU summit

The Sudan Tribune reports that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is on his way to Nouakchott to participate in the 31st African Union Summit, scheduled for Mauritania on 1-2 July.

The summit will focus on the fight against corruption.

Al-Bashir is named in two International Criminal Court arrest warrants for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mauritania is not a party to the war crimes tribunal but has the obligation as a member of the United Nations to cooperate with the court.

Jammeh's planes and cars for auction

The government in Gambia is looking to sell ex-president Yahya Jammeh's assets to raise millions of dollars for health and education.

When Jammeh fled into exile last year after more than two decades in power, he left behind five planes and 30 luxury cars including Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, as well as four plots of land in some of the country's finest tourist areas. Now, the whole lot is to be auctioned online.

If you're interested in obtaining a a Boeing 727, a Bombardier Challenger 601 or a Soviet-era Ilyushin Il-62M, this is your chance. Tha cars on offer include two armour-plated Hummers, five Rolls-Royces, one Bentley, BMWs, pickup trucks, Mercedes and a Mini Cooper with a number plate bearing the initials "MYJ" for Mariam Yahya Jammeh, daughter of the former president.

The west African state hopes to raise 10 million euros from the sale.

Lake Turkana in trouble

Lake Turkana in Kenya has been added to the list of endangered world heritage sites.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's World Heritage Committee has expressed concern about the disruptive effect of Ethiopia's Gibe III irrigation and hydroelectric dam on the water flow in the Omo river and on the ecosystem of the downstream lake.

An estimated 300,000 people depend on fishing Lake Turkana for their livelihoods.

Army to protect Ugandan MPs

Ugandan MPs are to get military guards, the Kampala-based Daily Monitor reports.

President Yoweri Museveni has agreed that Members of Parliament will now get military guards from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces.

MPs, alarmed by the recent wave of high-profile killings and, particularly, the 8 June gunning down of Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga, told President Museveni that they had received death threats via social media platforms and mobile phones.

The new protection scheme will remain in place for six months, after which Yoweri Museveni is convinced his proposals to improve national security will have been implemented.