SOUTH SUDAN: peace or genocide?
By Richard Moula
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has once again declared a war of genocide and ethnic cleansing on the small ethnic tribe of Moru in Western Equatoria.
As from 16th September 2015 up to date, Kiir’s forces have been killing civilians (women, children and the elderly) as well as, looting and destroying their property in the entire Amadi state of western Equatoria. Everybody has since then fled their homes to the bushes and yet Kiir’s forces continue to pursue and bombard them with helicopter gunships. Homes are burnt, shops destroyed, dogs, goats and chicken are all killed (almost every living thing).
In the last three days three helicopter gunships have been shooting at random through the villages of Kediba, Wandi, Dosso, Amadi., Mundri, Lui, Lanyi , Buagyi and Jambo killing over 300 civilians and the dead bodies are rotting and smelling throughout the bushes. Many more are yet to be accounted for.
There is clearly abundant evidence that President Kiir is against the recently signed Peace Agreement on South Sudan. If that were not the case why do his forces attack innocent Moru civilians after the declaration of permanent cease fire a couple of weeks ago? The fact is that while Dr. Riek Machar, Kiir’s former rival and now first Vice President designate, is preaching peace in U.S.A., President Kiir is busy annihilating smaller tribes in South Sudan suspected to be supporters of Dr. Machar. Is Kiir normal or has he run amok because of his miserable intellectual defeat at the negotiating table in Addis Ababa on 17/8/2015 when he had declined to sign the agreement?.
As of now, thirty fully armed Lorries are expected to converge on Mundri town today coming from three different directions. Twenty trucks are leaving from Juba to Rokon. While at Rokon, ten trucks will branch and pass through Minga, Kediba, Dosso, Amadi and then to Mundri. The other ten will continue straight and pass through Jambo, Buagyi, Lanyi, Lui and also end at Mundri. The third lot of ten trucks will start from Mvolo in the North and pass through Yeri, Mbara, Gulu and finally join the rest in Mundri. The plan is that when the thirty trucks gather in Mundri, they will then draw the sand model for the total annihilation and clansing of the entire Moru tribe. Indeed the war now is in full swing in Equatoria.
IGAD plus needs to take urgent and tougher measures against the genocidal government of President Kiir before he wipes out smaller tribes like the Moru from South Sudan. We appeal to the international community to take swift action instead of issuing threats.
Dr. Richard K. Mulla is a MP representing Mundri Constituency (Currently in Nairobi)