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South Sudan's road to peace marred by 'unconscionable' violence

The cattle rustlers were asleep, resting ahead of a raid when automatic gunfire tore through their camp. Ambushed by rival herdsmen, encircled and outgunned, they were cut down, one by one. violence
Koba Ngacho was lucky. Shot three times and left for dead, the young rustler was found alive in the carnage, the bullets had missed his vital organs, and airlifted to Juba for surgery.
"I'm grateful to be alive," the 20-year-old told AFP as he was wheeled to one of the few operating theatres in South Sudan equipped to deal with complicated gunshot injuries.
In February, after months of protracted negotiations, President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar joined forces in government, drawing a line under a long-running conflict that left around 380,000 people dead. violence
South Sudan's civil war may have been declared over. But armed violence has anything but slowed in the troubled young country awash with guns, and riven by ethnic turmoil.
Hospital wards overflow with young men like Ngacho -- not soldiers, but farmers and herdsmen disfigured by machine-gun fire in brutal fighting over land, cattle, and revenge.
These clashes between communities have surged even as violence between Kiir and Machar's forces has eased.
Thousands of armed men from the Nuer and Murle communities have been fighting in Jonglei, an eastern state, since February, leaving towns in ashes and untold dead and injured. violence
UN special envoy to South Sudan, David Shearer, who toured the conflict-ravaged region this month, said bodies were lying in the open and women and children had been abducted by both sides.
"This is unconscionable," he told reporters in Juba on March 9 after visiting Pibor, where 8,000 civilians -- mainly women, children and the elderly -- have sought shelter at a UN base.
Large-scale battles between government and rebel forces ebbed considerably in the aftermath of a September 2018 ceasefire between Kiir and Machar, who is once again vice-president in a unity government with his old rival.
But in 2019, the International Committee of the Red Cross treated more patients for serious gunshot wounds than the previous year -- 769 compared to 658.
The fear is that 2020 could follow the same trajectory.
Since December, UN peacekeepers have been deployed to Jonglei, greater Tonj in the northwest, and Rumbek, in central South Sudan, where ethnic violence has left scores dead and wounded, and thousands more on the run.
Every bed is taken at the ICRC ward at Juba Military Hospital, where Nacho, a Murle cattle raider from Jonglei, nervously awaits his turn.
"I don't know if these wounds will heal, or if I'll walk again," he says.
Many here endure multiple rounds of surgery to put their bullet-riddled bodies back together. violence
His Ethiopian surgeon, Dr. Belayneh Assefa, assures he'll recover. Thirteen other patients have arrived in the past two days, all victims of a vicious cattle raid, and he is busy.
"During the dry season, we will have an influx of patients," Dr. Assefa tells AFP, as a team of surgeons operate on a 26-year-old man with gaping gunshot wounds.
"He is lucky to have survived this."
Especially so in South Sudan, where healthcare is non-existent in remote parts, and there are about 180 doctors for a population of 12 million.
Only the lucky few gunned down in remote bush conflicts get Medevaced to Juba. The rest take their chances at local clinics or simply bleed out in the field.
"Natural triage has often worked, rather sadly, before patients can get to definitive care. Patients who would be described as red -- needing immediate surgery -- may well have already perished," said Dr. Colin Berry, an ICRC anesthetist.
Left unchecked, these local conflicts risk spiraling further out of control, prolonging misery in a country that has known little but war since its independence from Sudan in 2011.
The EU, among others, has urged Kiir and Machar's government to "redouble efforts" to calm tensions.
But the pair have been busy haggling over key positions in their administration. A new cabinet was announced late Thursday, but the seats of state governors remain unfilled.
"The absence of authority at the state level has caused a vacuum of power and decision-making... emboldening those involved in the recent violent intercommunal clashes," Shearer said.
A new army of their combined forces, meanwhile, is not ready to deploy and restore security to areas where lawlessness has allowed violence to flourish.
The fighting in Jonglei followed bad floods in the region in late 2019 which wiped out livestock and left cattle-rearing communities desperately short on assets.
Herders like Nacho resorted to cattle raiding -- a generations-old phenomenon in South Sudan, but one that has turned increasingly deadly.
Spears and other traditional weapons have been replaced by easily-available automatic rifles, a poisonous legacy from decades of war.
Raids turn into wholesale massacres, spurring vicious cycles of retribution. violence
Margaret Malweyi, the Kenyan head nurse at the ICRC ward, said patients from rival clans flown to Juba were sometimes placed in separate wards so "they don't again start fighting".
Others, once recuperated, would "go back home and want revenge", she said.
"They get shot again, then they come back here (and) we treat them," Malweyi told AFP, surrounded by young men in wheelchairs and stretchers, nursing grisly wounds.
Those who pull through confront an uncertain future. Some have lost limbs, or will never walk again.
For others, the trauma leaves indelible scars.
"I don't want to go back," said Peter Majok, a softly-spoken 22-year-old, propped up in a wheelchair after being shot by cattle raiders. levant
"If I go home... they'll come and shoot me."
source: AFP levant
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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