S. Sudan governors urged to enlighten communities on war
May 12, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir on Monday urged state governors to be mindful of security by enlightening their respective communities about the root causes of ongoing conflict in the country.
He urged them to ensure groups with similar ideologies do not emerge in their states.
The president urged governors to cooperate with the security organs and local army commanders in their respective states to ensure provision of full security in the country.
Kiir reiterated that his administration was not fighting an ethnic war, but was battling groups of “inwardly looking people”, who posed challenges to the country’s leadership.
“As you go back, you need to go and educate our people who have not yet understood the cause of this war because of the confusing messages in media about this senseless war that it is an ethnic war. We have said many times that this is not true but they continue to spread lies,” the South Sudanese leader reportedly said.
“This needs to be corrected so that people understand what happened”, he added.
FAILED COUP ATTEMPT?
The president reportedly accused his former deputy of allegedly staging a failed coup attempt as part of his strategy to fight for his personal ambition using communities.
“It is Riek [Machar] who has turned this war into tribal war and publicized it in the media who are now depicting it as tribal conflict after failing to take the power he wanted through unconstitutional means by using it as a political strategy to get the support from the communities,” Kiir reportedly told state governors during the meeting.
“This was what we have said before about this conflict from the beginning and now some members of the international community and the region have understood it”, he added.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million displaced since violent conflict broke out in the world’s youngest nation in mid-December 2013.
(ST)