S. Sudan students’ union in Kampala switches allegiance to rebels

October 8, 2014 (KAMPALA) – The Greater Upper Nile Students’ Union in Uganda has declared its support for South Sudan’s rebel faction led by former vice-president Riek Machar.

The group said the decision to switch allegiances was due to what it described as the government’s weak efforts to address the suffering of women and children displaced by the latest conflict, which erupted in mid-December last year.

According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), about half population of South Sudan’s population are children,

The agency says ongoing violence on the ground in volatile states such as Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states poses a serious risk to vulnerable children in the region.

Student leaders, mostly from Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states, publicly declared that they will no longer to stand with the South Sudanese government, accusing president Salva Kiir of lacking commitment to peace effort in the region.

Union chairman Thanyang Jam Dhuor said the conflict has destabilised Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states, blaming Kiir for failing to make progress in peace talks, which are being mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Ethiopia.

“The government is not serious about [the] death of our people in [the] Upper Nile region since the leadership came from Bahr el Ghazal,” he said.

“We have been in support of the government for the last nine months of conflict, but we were surprised by the government for their continued ethnic targeting and poor response to bring peace in the country,” he added.

Dhuor says the union decided to align with the Machar’s rebel faction after the government repeatedly failed to take action to protect internally displaced camps, who are currently sheltering at various sites across the country.

The UN reported last month that over 10 women have been raped in Unity state capital Bentiu while collecting firewood in the vicinity of the camp.

Doctors without borders say it has treated over 200 rape victims in Unity state since the crisis broke out.

There are claims that government troops are responsible for raping women on an ethnic basis.

“Our women and girls are being humiliated by pro-government forces in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei,” said Dhuor.

He said rape cases are being reported on an almost daily basis, saying the situation had become intolerable for many women and children in the camps.

Matiek Banguot Geah, the former chairperson of Unity State Students’ Union and now a member of the Kampala-based Greater Upper Nile union, told Sudan Tribune that ongoing delays to peace negotiations had resulted in the loss of many lives and a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in conflict-affected areas.

“Peace will never come in South Sudan if president Kiir still holds power of leadership. The president only cares about his seat rather than looking after the people,” said Geah.
Meanwhile, the information secretary of the Greater Upper Nile Students Union, Koang Muoch Tang, said Kiir’s failure to address the root causes of the crisis had prolonged the violent conflict in the country.

“We have lost many of our brothers; we, as the children of Upper Nile, have today declared ourselves in sharing pain, with those who are suffering most in the region – whether through taking [up] arms or political participation,” said Tang.

The union has also accused the three governors of the Greater Upper Nile region of acting out of self interest rather than working to facilitate a final peace deal between the country’s warring parties.

(ST)