Azandes organisation denounces falses reports on Yambio killing

November 6, 2007 — Reports reaching Azande world organisation in London from Yambio as of November 6th 2007 speak of citizens who are very unhappy due to the senseless killing of their senior police officers and the then false statement issued by the GoSS Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development Mr. Michael Makuei about the incidence and posted on Gurtong net.

In the statement published on 5th November 2007 on Gurtong web site the minister claimed that the culprits who carried out the shooting and killings were arrested. This is big lie and campaign of disinformation intended to hide the truth from the South Sudan public and the world at large. I would like to confirm, to the South Sudan people that, the murderous JIU members are still at large and continue to make threatening manoeuvres in Yambio. The murderous JIU units had retreated to their base and at one point occupied defensive positions around a stream not far behind the Governors private house. Further these JIU are heavily armed and continue to threaten the security of the area regardless of the fact that some SPLA proper and Security Organ troops are now stationed in the town centre and trying their level best to calm the situation. The offending JIU rogue soldiers are said to be mobilising for a possible showdown with a supposed enemy be it the police, citizens or other SPLA units. Hence the atmosphere itself is said to be calm but tense and people are still sleeping rough in the bushes for fear of getting caught in any fighting which erupts or breaks out and involving the JIUs.

With regards to the fallen heroes, the body of other 2 Equatorians police officers who were murdered was flown to Juba yesterday by the SPLM/GoSS delegation which went to Yambio to see for themselves the evidence of the cold blooded killings. The remaining body of Major Joseph Ereminio Wande, a Zande, was buried today at his home village at Yubu near Nzara town. It is worth mentioning that the GoSS/SPLM delegation from Juba only went to Yambio to see evidence of the killings such as to where the bodies lay and to take away the 2 bodies of the fallen heroes going to Juba to relatives in Central/Eastern Equatoria and they did not try to do anything with the JIUs.

As such the citizens of WES deplore the false statement made by the GoSS minister of Legal affairs and Constructional development which is seen as a way of trying to divert attention away from the truth in order to achieve a hidden agenda. The people of Western Equatoria are calling on the South Sudan Community at large and the International community to get the fact straight from WES citizens and not from a minister who sits in Juba to distort information for his own purpose. We are also appealing for urgent pressure to be put on GoSS, South Sudan Parliament and leader Lt Gen Salve Kiir so that action is taken to remove these murderous JIU units by the those authorities who sent them to Yambio as an instrument of repression and harassment. They have already murdered our police leaders in cold blood and it seems they are there to undermine peace and CPA and harass the people of WES because of the tribal clashes of 2005. The citizens say that is why they are mostly from one major ethnic group.

The citizens condemn the senseless and barbaric killings in the strongest terms possible and are now calling on t the GoSS authorities and leaders to show that they can really work for justice and equality in South Sudan by sending a strong force which can disarm the JIU soldiers and arrest the culprits among them who committed the murder on 4th November 2007. The slogan of the SPLM has always been to bring justice and we would like to ask that serious action is taken to fulfil this pledge of justice by moving swiftly on the JIU soldiers, disarming them, arresting the culprits and removing the unit from Yambio.

Charles B. Kisanga

Eng. Kisanga is former SPLM NLC member and chairman of Western Equatoria Azande Community World-Wide Organisation. He is currently living and working in exile in the UK and he can be reached on [email protected] Tel: 44-770 8998373