S. Sudan downplays defection of top youth leader
March 26, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan has downplayed the significance of the defection of a top youth leader to the country’s rebel faction led by former vice-president Riek Machar amid concerns other dissatisfied youth groups may follow.
Agel Ring Machar was the chairperson of the South Sudan Political Parties Youth Forum and previously headed a committee appointed to organise the election of the South Sudan Youth Union.
However, he was later removed from the position by ministerial order without explanation and was unable to secure enough support from the leadership of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to reverse the decision.
Some believe that his removal may have contributed to his decision to join the rebellion after failing
Ring is the son of Victoria Adhar Arop Chop, an influential female politician and well-known MP in the capital, Juba.
While working as a medical assistant during the north-south civil war, she provided assistance to many unaccompanied minors in Ethiopia’s Dimmo refugee camp
Ring disappeared from Juba three weeks ago and was last spotted in Nairobi, Kenya. He later travelled to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where he declared he was switching his allegiance to the rebel faction.
However, South Sudan’s minister of youth, culture and sports, Nadia Arop Dudi, said that as Ring had defected as an individual his decision was unlikely to have any significant influence.
“The youth are going forward with their organisation. The defection of one person will not affect the organisation and their activities,” Dudi told reporters on Thursday.
“They are the future leaders of this country. This is why the government, especially the president, wants them to get organised and learn from now.”
Following his defection, the youth leader said the country’s leadership was no longer sustainable, adding that the current system was “too deformed to be reformed”.
In a declaration statement, Ring said there was an urgent need for a “total revolutionary overhaul of the system”, calling on president Salva Kiir to be removed from office.
He cited disappointment with Kiir’s leadership style, saying only Machar was a viable alternative and had the ability to “fix the ills of our country”.
“At least Dr Riek Machar has a vision for the future of the country, from democratic reforms within [the] SPLM and the country at large to federalism and the creation of more states to bring services closer to the long suffering people or badly needed reforms in [the] economic, public service and security sectors,” he said.
Ring said responsibility for bringing about change in South Sudan falls on the shoulders of the country’s youth.
He urged youth from across South Sudan’s 10 states and 64 tribes to reject what he described as a failed government.
He said Machar would “continue to represent the youth who share the view of inclusive process of governance, democracy, equality, justice, accountability, transparency, freedom of speech and association and wider reforms on constitution, judicial, electoral, security, economic and land”.
Ring, a native of Warrap state, is the first significant figure among the youth population from Kiir’s home state to switch allegiance.
(ST)