South Sudan postpones CPA anniversary celebrations to later day

By James Gatdet Dak

December 19, 2009 (JUBA) – The 5th annual celebrations for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended 21 years of North-South war, has been postponed from its traditional day of 9th January to 19th January 2010.

The decision was reached on Friday in the cabinet meeting per the request of the chairperson of the celebrations preparatory committee, Dr. Luka Tombekana Monoja, who is also the minister of Cabinet Affairs in the semi-autonomous government.

This decision, according to the government’s official spokesperson, Paul Mayom Akech, was to give time for the necessary preparations to make the celebrations a success.

Earlier, the upcoming 2010 CPA anniversary celebration was resolved to be celebrated in Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria state.

Last year, the 4th celebration was occasioned on the 9th January in the Upper Nile state’s capital, Malakal.

It is not however the first time that the traditional day of the CPA celebrations would be missed as the 3rd anniversary was instead celebrated on 14th January in 2008 in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal state.

While the next year’s celebrations will be missed by ten days, officials also predict that the day will also be missed in January 2011 as the event will be overtaken by the conduct of referendum.

The committee preparing for the Yambio celebrations has expressed progress in putting in place structures needed for accommodation of the would-be invited dignitaries.

The government had earlier resolved the need to rotate the annual peace celebrations among the state capitals across Southern Sudan and initiate and implement projects for the celebrations that would deliver peace dividends to the populations in the host states.

Tens of millions of Sudanese pounds have been injected into the Yambio projects ranging from constructing a new football stadium, which officials say will have few thousands of seats, but with the overall capacity of accommodating up to 50,000 people.

A presidential villa and guest house among others are also in their final stages of construction.

Mayom added that the delay of the celebrations to 19th January would also make the environment conducive enough to invite foreign dignitaries to participate in the celebrations.

(ST)