Senior SPLA Officer and 11 Civilians Killed in Separate Murders in Yei

(Agencies)
A colonel in the southern army – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) - and eleven civilians were killed on Thursday in Yei town of Central Equatoria state in two separate incidents involving soldiers.
Military sources say Colonel Peter Gatkuoth Chol was shot dead by one of his soldiers, Lieutenant-Corporal Majur Philip Mathier, who was alleged to have been drug addict and who drank heavily.
Majur was previously disciplined for his behavior of frequently smoking cannabis, known locally as ‘bongo’. He was put to jail until recently when he was released. While attempts to reach the SPLA spokesman for clarifications failed, the anonymous military sources say after the soldier’s release he got hold of a gun and went to where the Colonel stayed during which he shot him at a close range while the Colonel was sitting and charting with some of his other colleagues. The assailant managed to escape from the scene.
Late Colonel Peter Gatkuoth was the army’s officer in charge of the SPLA Engineering Corps in Yei town.
In a separate incident later on Friday, , a soldier alleged to have been one of the GOSS presidential guards based in Yei town shot dead eleven people mostly women and children from the family of his former in-laws. The soldier who is only revealed to Sudan Tribune by his first name as Makuor massacred members of the family of the girl he was about to marry.
The sources alleged that Makuor was in serious argument with the family of the girl from the Kakwa community after he tried to renege on the agreement he had earlier reached with the girl’s parents that the girl would first complete the current academic year before could marry her.
After learning that his request to prematurely take the girl was turned down, he allegedly decided to later attack the family through the help of some of his friends who first tied their hands and then shot them.
Following the massacre of the civilians, the commander in charge of the SPLA forces in Yei County, Brigadier General Thok Chuol Luak, had reportedly appealed to the civil population in the town to remain calm and allow the authorities to investigate the matter and take necessary action.
A team of senior military officers including Lt. General Wilson Deng from the SPLA General Headquarters and the Commander of the Military Police in Southern Sudan, Brigadier General Stephen Buay Rolnyang, had been dispatched to Yei from Juba on Friday to calm the situation and bring the culprits to book.

The murderer of the 11 family members is reported to have been arrested while the culprit responsible for the death of the Colonel is said to have escaped and is being pursued by the law enforcement agencies.
Two years ago a senior army officer was murdered by another soldier at the SPLA General Headquarters in Juba during a dispute over ownership of piece of land


Nasir County Commissioner says security stable after cattle raid
(Mirayafm)
The Commissioner of Nasir County of Upper Nile State, Dak Tab Chuol, has said that the security situation in the county is stable after the incident of cattle raid. Speaking to Radio Miraya, Chuol, said that the security authorities discovered the looted cattle and returned them to their owners. However, he said that the County is in need of health and educational services.
Chuol called on the local government of the State to support the area.

Minister of Minerals to visit Blue Nile State
(SUNA)
Minister of Minerals, Dr Abdel-Baqi Al Jaylani accompanied by the Undersecretary of the Ministry and Director of the Geological Research Centre will pay a visit to Blue Nile State to look into facing mining problems and the role of this sector in developing local communities

Kala-azar death toll reaches 50 in Jonglei state
(ST)
At least 56 people are dead and over 200 hospitalized in Ayod county of Jonglei state since a Kala-azar outbreak began in June, official records indicate.
A two-roomed ward at a primary health care center (PHCC) in Ayod county’s headquarters has not been enough to cope with the daily increase in patients, Sudan Tribune witnessed on Thursday, while accompanying the Jonglei state ministry of health visit to Ayod county facilitated by United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
Kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, is common in the counties of Ayod, Fangak and Pigi in northern Jonglei state. The disease slows down the production of red blood cells as it attacks bone marrow and viscera such liver and spleen. It is transmitted by sand fly bites.
The symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, enlargement of liver, spleen and nodes.
Elderly people, children and mothers lie on the few beds in the wards and outside the health centre under trees. Sudan Tribune heard an elderly man complain of abdomen pain next to a woman breastfeeding a child with protruding ribs at the entrance to the ward.
The rooms and the entire compound of Ayod PHCC are full of malnourished people. The Kala-azar outbreak has displaced a substantial number of people to Ayod town based on the crowd that Sudan Tribune saw on Thursday.
Local health and government authorities say the combination of the Kala-azar and insufficient feeding of patients are fuelling the large numbers of people seeking help from the health centre described as “poorly serviced” by Ayod county commissioner Thoi Ruai Ret.
“The cases of Kala-azar are increasing drastically since June and this is worrying,” said Pricilla Wagare, a health official in Ayod. Mrs. Wagare warns that, “the scientific increment of Kala-azar cases is in October and November. This is just the beginning.”
“We are trying our best but the magnitude of this disease and poor services offered in health units make no change,” Mr. Ruai said when asked what the assistance are doing to counteract the outbreak.
Jonglei state minister of health, Rodentia Ayen Alphorns, said the state government is following Kala-azar cases in Ayod, Fangak and Pigi keenly. She called upon humanitarian organizations to offer assistance.


Egyptian businessmen delegation to visit Sudan
(SUNA)
An Egyptian businessmen delegation is expected here on Monday to get acquainted with investment opportunities in Sudan
The delegation will discuss with the Government of Southern Sudan investment opportunities in the south and the Egyptian investments in the transport, food, tourism, commerce and services, said Director of the Egyptian Trade Centre in Sudan, Mohamed Wajdi
The visiting delegation will look into the role of the centre in promoting the Egyptian products in Sudan, he said


Oil Revenues between US Dollar and SDG
(Opinion)
The issue of oil revenues, pipeline, and other economical are dominating the talks between the CPA partners. The issue started when GoSS Finance Minister said that Khartoum had sent the oil payments in Sudanese pounds rather than hard currency calling the move a (sinister) ploy to unsettle the south's economy ahead of the referendum on self-determination.
The Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) has denied the transfer of GoSS share from the oil revenues in SDG affirming that it has never once happened since the signature of the CPA that the south's share of oil revenues was transferred in SDG.
The latest news coming from Juba brought the statements of GoSS Information Minister refuted the CBOS statements affirming that they received the oil revenues in SDG.
It is good that the GoNU dealt with the issue wisely and in transparency because such accusations in such timing might affect the issue of unity and cessation options.
The GoNU was very wise when it responded in figures to the accusations through an open press conference addressed by CBOS Governor.
The Governor of CBOS, Dr. Sabir Mohamed Al Hassan acknowledged, in a press conference last Tuesday, that there was a problem between the CBOS and the GoSS on the interference of the latter in the management policies of the bank's branch in Juba.
He said that the southern government has been dealing with the branch of Juba as part of its institutions and as an independent central bank and also interferes in the management of reserves and policy guidance, and considering it against the CPA and the Constitution.
Sabir announced that the capital of Southern Sudan Bank in foreign currency through last Monday reached $726 million as an operational capital while the operational capital for the Bank in Khartoum for the same day reached $300 million to meet the daily transactions, noting that the amount in the Bank of Southern Sudan is more than double the operational capital of Khartoum.
Sabir explained that the disagreement between the said bank and the GoSS also focuses on how to manage cash reserves, indicating that the CPA defined the responsibilities of the central bank in the reserves cash unit and the unit of the central bank, stressing that there are southern discord voices believe in the independence of the South Central Bank Branch.
Sabir considered that  the motives behind the GoSS statements is to create a public opinion against the  Federal Government by the sponsors of the peace agreement saying that they do not want them to realize this strategy.
Sabir explained the process of transferring the share of the GoSS in the oil revenues saying that it is paid in full and in hard currency.
However, it is obvious that all the disputes over the economical issues are caused by politicians and if the political agenda are set aside from the economical files, then the language of figures and transparency will be able to resolve any dispute between the two partners.
We believe that the main reason of the disputes is over how to administrate the reserve currency as some GoSS officials think that Juba Bank as if it is the Central Bank, besides the disagreement between  the CBOS policies and GoSS Minister of Finance over providing the hard currencies for the market to maintain stability in hard currencies prices.
It is political agendas which always confuse the economists' administration to the pending economical issues.