Calls for peace among Jonglei state communities intensify
July 26, 2015 (MABIOR) – Officials in South Sudan’s Jonglei state have reiterated calls for peace among Dinka Bor and Nuer communities, saying this would restore trust and confidence among these tribes.
Twic East county commissioner, Dau Akoi, said his region was playing a great role to ensure grassroots peace deals proceed successfully.
Maker Thiong Maal, the Bor country MP, said people responsible for South Sudan’s destruction were top militants and politicians who deceived local populations to achieve their own political interests.
“The people who are destroying this national are not you in the villages but the top people in the country”, stressed Maker, adding that the locals should know the truth and refrain from taking sides.
Lual Achuil, formerly a relief coordinator in Twic East county, expressed sympathy for the lives lost as result of the ongoing conflict.
According to a report released by the Twic East county commissioner, 15,011 people have returned home since they left the internally displaced people and refugee camps from January 2015.
The governor of Jonglei state, John Kong, said the next round of peace talk in Addis Ababa might yield positive results if the rebels sincerely allude to the peace deal that South Sudanese needed.
“The government is committed to bring peace but the rebels are not committed. Every time the president talks in rallies, he calls for peace. The peace we need is not what UN [United Nations] and rebels need”, he said.
Governor Kong said the war had brought a complete destruction in Bor, but stressed that reconstruction was possible with little resources.
“Bor remains a bare soil, but today it is better than before. Those who saw it physically or on television would not believe the changes they would see today in Bor. We all joined our hands and rebuilt it”, he said.
“You accepted to remain in your houses, your home is better than someone’s tall building in a different country”, he added.
Meanwhile, Kong rejected rebels’ proposal of 53% share of seats in Upper Nile government, which leaves the government with only 33%.
“Riek Machar and his rebels need 53% in the Upper Nile states to the given to them. Which Upper Nile are they talking about? Is it this same Upper Nile we are in? What about us in the government? We will not accept that. Completely not”, explained the governor.
“[The] UN has stopped helping us, on condition that we should agree on peace. But the peace they are pushing for is not the peace we need. If that is the case, we better stay like this”, he added.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has unveiled its latest reviewed proposal for a compromise between warring parties to South Sudan’s ongoing conflict.
(ST)
