Jonglei chiefs call for peace talks with David Yauyau

By Thon Philip

October 26, 2010 (BOR) – Chiefs in Pibor county in Jonglei state have called for peace talks with David Yauyau who launced a rebellion in May after failing to win a seat in April’s elections.

At a conference held from 7-11 October local chiefs agreed a letter would be sent from community and Church leaders Yauyau inviting him to attend peace talks.

Since then his insurgency has killed several soldiers from the southern army the SPLA. His attacks along transport routes have destabilized the area.

Yauyau lost his bid for the Gumuruk–Boma constituency seat representing Pibor County in the Jonglei State Assembly to the candidate from south Sudan’s ruling party – the SPLM.

But according to a report by the Small Arms Survey report on David Yauyau published in September, grieviance over his electoral defeat may not be behind his insurection:

Some cite internal Murle politics rather than election-related tensions as a driving factor behind the revolt. A man in his thirties, David is viewed by Murle elders and the tribe’s elites as having support only among local youths and is resented for not having sought the consent of Murle leaders before running in the elections.

The conference also announced that the Murle’s paramount chief Ismail Konyi would be replaced Ngantho Kavula Laju.

The Small Arms Survey report suggests that Konyi may be backing Yauyau’s rebellion as part of a political struggle within the Murle:

This rebellion seems linked to the intense rift between two Murle factions, one led by Ismail Konyi (a former Sudanese Armed Forces major-general who was incorporated into the Southern government in 2006 as the presidential adviser on peace and reconciliation) and the other by Pibor County Commissioner Akot Maze. The perception among some Murle is that Ismail is backing David in order to destabilize the county and force Akot’s removal. The commissioner maintains close ties to the SPLM, while many of his constituents deeply resent the Southern ruling party due to its marginalization of the Murle at the Juba level and abuses they suffered during the SPLA’s latest disarmament campaign in the Pibor area before the elections. Ismail, with substantial resources still at his disposal, may be providing illicit support to David [Yauyau], although local estimates put the number of his armed supporters at between 50 and 300 men, suggesting that his uprising is smaller in scale than the other insurgencies in Jonglei and Unity. Nonetheless, David’s activities are still playing a destabilizing role in Pibor County, an area that has already been relatively neglected by humanitarian actors since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, due partly to persistent insecurity and other access difficulties.

(ST)

The full list of Pibor Chief’s conference resolutions can be downloaded below.