Former SPLA soldiers are source of insecurity – governor

By Isaac Vuni

March 2, 2007 (TORIT) — The governor of Eastern Equatoria state, Aloisio Ojetuk said some SPLA soldiers have deliberately disqualified themselves from the army without even giving back their guns to their respective headquarter and now have become sources of insecurity besides harassing civilians.

He further said another group of SPLA have involved themselves in cattle trade business and are also heavily armed with deadly weapons such that his organized forces could not match with their military might and that the only solution is to disarm them through the DDR programme that should involve compensation.

“Our populations are armed therefore if we don’t come out with an explicitly recommendations that every body should be disarmed, we shall have given rooms for insecurity in states of greater equatorial”, remarks Ojetuk.

Contributing to DDR debate, Oluku Andrew Holt, special need group coordinator of southern Sudan DDR commission said the disarmament conducted in Bahr el Ghazal was a failure and he caution participants to be careful when applying disbarment in their respective areas.

But Governor of Western Equatoria state, Samuel Abujohn said demobilization was successfully done in WES without involving the DDRC.

Meanwhile Governor Clement Wani say he would not allowed any disarmament in eastern side of central equatoria state because the Murle and Dinka Bor are heavily armed and a threat to his people .Otherwise, he said the Dinka and Murle would definitely take the advantage to terrorize his people.

(ST)