Greater Pibor administrator denies collaboration with rebels

May 8, 2015 (JUBA) – The chief administrator of Greater Pibor area, David Yauyau has denied having any connection with rebels led by former vice president, Riek Machar.

“I have no connection with them. The people of Greater Pibor need peace because they have suffered a lot. They need roads to be constructed. They need schools to be built; they need hospitals to be built. They need to be in peace with their neighbours”, Yauyau told reporters in the South Sudan capital, Juba Friday.

He was responding to allegations in which some government supporters accused him of collaborating with the rebels after reportedly opposed a move to allow pro-government forces use the Greater Pibor area as a base to pursue the armed opposition.

“We don’t have any agreement between us but we don’t have problem and we will never have problem”, Yauyau said in response to his alleged links to the armed opposition.

Yauyau was part of several government officials in South Sudan from areas along the common border with neigbouring Ethiopia, where a consultative meeting to discuss issues related to border management was held in the regional town of Gambella.

The governor of South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, Simon Kun Puoc and the deputy governor of Jonglei state, Baba Jida took part in the consultative meeting in which several security and military intelligence officers from both countries took part.

Observers and analysts, however, argued that Yauyau and members of his administration were keen to avoid a repeat of the 2012 events in which areas inhabited by members of his ethnic Murle community were overrun by armed youth from neigbouring Lou Nuer from North east of Jonglei, resulting into the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in what was considered as a revenge attack. Several villages were also burnt to ashes in the region without immediate intervention from the government.

The semi-autonomous GPAA came into effect after president Salva Kiir signed into law a peace accord recognising its formation following a peace agreement reached with South Sudan Democratic Front (SSDF) Cobra Faction, then headed by Yauyau.

Yauyau rebelled against government in 2010 after losing elections to represent Pibor county in Jonglei legislative assembly, accusing the ruling party (SPLM) of rigging votes. In 2011, he accepted a presidential amnesty, but rebelled again the following year.

(ST)