Yau Yau calls for quick implementation of Jonglei peace deal

May 23, 2014 (JUBA) – Jonglei state’s former rebel leader David Yau Yau has called for the swift implementation of a peace deal signed earlier this month with the South Sudanese government.

Yau Yau group signed a peace agreement with Juba on 9 May ending a 4-year insurgency he led in the immense Jonglei state since the end of Sudan’s general elections in 2010.

In line with the peace agreement, Juba agreed to give the area where lives his ethnic group, the Murle, a special status allowing them to manage water and pasture resources. Also special development fund will be will be set up for the Greater Pibor County.

In a meeting held on Thursday with the head of UN Mission in South Sudan, Hilde Johnson, the leader of the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army (SSDM/A), Cobra faction reiterated his commitment to the signed peace agreement and urged the quick implementation for the peace deal.

“David Yau Yau underlined the urgency of implementing the agreement and providing the people of Greater Pibor with peace dividends to help build trust and stability among the affected communities,” said UNMISS in a statement released on Friday.

The UNMISS chief also organised him a meeting with foreign diplomats on Friday where Yau Yau briefed them about the steps taken to implement the signed peace agreement. The former rebel leader also called to support the development of Pibor area where the lack of infrastructure and roads is the main obstacle for development.

Yau Yau is visiting Juba for the first time since the signing of the peace deal to discuss the implementation of the peace deal with the government officials and brief legislators, political forces and other actors about the agreement.

Johnson pledged to support the full implementation of the agreement which “will lay the foundation of a durable peace for all the people and communities of Pibor and surrounding counties”, she stated.

The head of the peacekeeping mission further expressed hopes that the government and the rebel SPLM-In Opposition “follow suit” and reach a peace deal ending the current conflict which cause huge suffering among the civilians and destroyed the infrastructure of the new nation.

(ST)