Bahr el Jebel parliament calls South Sudan govt to beef up security

Resolution of the Interim State Legislative Assembly
No. 6 for the year 2006

Subject: The Deteriorating Security Situation in Bahr el Jebel State

JUBA – April 7, 2006 — After perusal of the emergency report of an ad hoc security committee of this august House which had been tasked to determine the causes of the deteriorating security situation in some counties of the State and to recommend solutions; Noting from the said report that the LRA menace is one of the major causes of insecurity in the counties of Juba, Kajokeji, Morobo and Yei;

Noting further that another major cause of insecurity is the unpardonable behavior of certain senior SPLA officers especially in Yei town, Kaya and Morobo County generally; Noting further still that the people of Kajokeji are completely defenceless against the repeated attacks of the LRA because SPLA presence in the entire County of Kajokeji amounts to less than half a platoon, and many of the men moreover without any arms;

Aware that the security situation of Kajokeji County was reported to Higher Authority by the Governor of Bahr el Jebel State nearly two months ago and that to date no rescue force has been rushed to defend the people of Kajokeji, a situation that has led to massive displacement of people from parts of Juba County and Kajokeji County;

Further aware that to travel to Kajokeji the ad hoc committee had to first enter Uganda before re-entering Sudan in order to get to Kajokeji County because there is no road link between Kajokeji County and the rest of Southern Sudan;

Concerned that some of the insecurity in Yei town is caused by senior SPLA officers who confiscate land from institutions and citizens in Yei and put up permanent buildings of their own;

Concerned also by the behavior of SPLA personnel in Yei and Morobo Counties who have arrogated unto themselves the role of traffic policemen and now hinder the authorities of Yei County from performing what are their rightful duties;

Alarmed also by reports that some senior Sudanese citizens are now building houses across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Bazi area, a situation that can bring conflict between our country and the sister republic of the DRC;

We, the Honorable Members of the Interim State Legislative Assembly of Bahr el Jebel State call upon the Government of Southern Sudan to take up its duty of protecting the lives and property of the people of the affected counties and to bring their suffering to an immediate end;

To this end we call upon the Government of Southern Sudan to immediately beef up security in the affected areas, and to bring the atrocities being committed by SPLA officers in Yei town and other areas to an immediate halt.

Signed:
Brig. Gen. Zamba M. Duku
Speaker