Unity state targets 6,000 new fighters into South Sudan army

By Ngor Arol Garang

April 15, 2011 (WAU) – While some people have expressed concerns objecting to the conscription of civilians into military services, authorities from the oil producing state of Unity have said Friday they are targeting at least 6,000 new fighters into the South Sudan army (SPLA).

The forced recruitment of the local civilians into the southern army across Unity state is being implemented by the county commissioners acting in response to instructions reportedly issued by Unity state Governor, General Taban Deng Gai.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune from Parieng town, an administrative headquarters of Parieng County, Colonel Mabek Lang Mading, commissioner of Parieng said authorities from the state are targeting to recruit a complete brigade amounting to 6,000 new soldiers in to regional army from the area.

“We have instructions from higher authorities to recruit people into military services. We received these orders early this year and tried it on voluntary basis without success so we decided to use the substitute procedures,” said commissioner Mabek.

Mabek said he was asked to by Unity state authorities to raise 330 strong men from his county.

“The instructions we are implementing is that each county is to conduct recruitment process based on the population and compliance of the people. So far, based on the response from our people here in Parieng we have recruited some people but have not yet completed the target. We have a ceiling target. Our ceiling target is 330,” said Parieng County commissioner in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday.

Arop Yuot Kaman, a commissioner of Abiemnom County, Unity State, in a separate interview with Sudan Tribune corroborated receipt of the instructions from higher authorities and said started recruitment process in his area and that he has already recruited over 250 people into the SPLA.

“The instructions were for all county commissioners in Unity state to encourage voluntarily recruitment of up to [a total of] 6,000 recruits. So, in my county, Abiemnom, we have already recruited some people. I do not have the correct figures but I believed we have reached more than 250 at the moment,” said commissioner Yuot.

Yuot said the process is experiencing some challenges which he said would not stop the exercise from being executed.

“At the moment some of the challenges facing the process include logistics and level of response from local people. Some people are joining on voluntary basis while others are conscripted after being identified by their family members”, said the senior member of South Sudan’s governing party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The SPLM was the political wing of the SPLA during the South’s two decade civil war with Khartoum. Since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) the SPLM has become the ruling party of the South and the SPLA the official army.

Deng Chol Mijak, who comes from Parieng County in a separate interview with Sudan Tribune from Juba, said the recruitment taking place in Unity state into the SPLA’s fourth division is illegal describing it as violation of individual rights as well as the CPA.

“We know there is a short fall of manpower in division 4. This is a concern of everyone because inadequacy in the strength of armed forces in any given area would definitely interfere with security and safety of the citizens and their properties but it has to be on motivational basis”.

“The government needed to have followed right procedures and tactics to attract local people into the armed service. One of such procedures and tactics I would love our state to have followed and adopted was to increase salaries. This alone can encourage voluntary recruitment into the armed services,” explained Mijak.

Another senior member of the SPLM and a citizen of Unity state who declined to be named echoed Mijak’s position, saying recruiting people into the armed service is part of employment but should have been on personal choice.

He gave the example of himself saying he was not conscripted into SPLA after it was formed in 1983 against Sudan’s central government in Khartoum.

“Recruitment into the army services is of course another way of creating employment to the local people but it should have been a motivated process so that it becomes an employment connected to personal choice. If recruitment is conducted based on voluntary response then it makes a lot of sense because it show part of individual patriotism and allegiance to service the nation at will,” explained the official.

Gatkek Chuol, a citizen from Unity and who comes from Panijier County, equally appears opposed to the ongoing conscription into armed services during an interview with Sudan Tribune Juba.

“I do not support the ongoing conscription into the armed service in Unity state. What Governor Taban with his commissioners is doing is illegal recruitment. I was talking to SPLA Chief of General Staff, General James Hoth Mai yesterday over this issue but said there were no official communications to initiate this process between SPLA General Headquarters and the State Governor”.

“What he said was that every state is allowed to encourage voluntary recruitment of the police forces and not the army,” said Chuol.

“Usually conscription happens only when it becomes obvious that the national army is seriously falling short in number which is not the case now. I do not understand these petty rebellion and defections can push the government into forced recruitment. This is not a good start,” he said.

Elections last year triggered four separate rebellions in South Sudan by individuals and groups aggrieved by the results. Since then there have been claims that the formerly disparate groups are coordinating and are under the overall command of former SPLA General George Athor.

More recently a militia led by Oliny attacked Malakal the capital of Upper Nile state. Peter Gatdet, who hails from oil-rich Unity state, announced his defection from the SPLA to Khartoum on April 11. Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party denies they are attempting to destabilize the oil-rich South ahead of its independence in July.

Many view the recruitment process taking place across the counties of Unity State as official confirmation of reports and allegations that some of the SPLA soldiers loyal to Gadet have defected from the SPLA in late March. Unconfirmed reports indicate that some 3,000 soldiers joined Gatdets forces from the SPLA’s Division 4, which is charged with providing security in Unity state.

The SPLA have denied there have been any defections to Gatdet, describing the reports as lies fabricated by Khartoum.

In a statement entitled The Mayom Declaration, Gadet named his movement as the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) and accused South Sudan government of bad governance and corruption.

Other Signatories to Mayom Declaration include former member of the Joint Integrated Units in Juba, Brigadier General Carlo Kol and former member of south Sudan Legislative Assembly, Bol Gatkuoth Kol.

“Our nation had groomed a monster that will swallow generation after generation in terms of bad leadership and extreme level of corruption which poisons our values and tradition that rejects thefts in our midst. What we saw in the six years of the interim period was a complete deviation from the path set by the CPA. There is an absolute failure in the area of good governance,” read part of the statement seen by Sudan Tribune.

“For instance our entire nation has witnessed rampant corruption on the top echelon of GOSS. It is shocking those only five years in government, the private bank accounts of the leadership of GOSS in foreign banks fatting from Zero to tens of millions of Dollars! Little wonder that the more than 20 billion dollars of oil revenue received by GOSS could not be seen in terms of tangible services delivery in areas such as health, education, water, etc,” claimed the group in the statement

“Our children went without schools while the Children of our leaders enjoyed the best education in foreign lands. Our people continued to die from treatable diseases while those in charge and their families visited the best hospitals abroad. In fact, the current leadership of GOSS never felt the sense of belonging to the South for their families continued to stay in their expensive mansion in east Africa, America, Australia, etc. These leaders of GOSS continue to siphon off the meager resources of the South bleeding our people dry. Who is now the enemy of our people?”

“It is crystal clear that the accounts of GOSS were never audited for the last six years of the interim period. The noise and empty statements of zero tolerance of corruption in Juba is bogus and hollow because none in Juba is capable of doing so for they are all in the thick of it”.

(ST)