Raga chiefs threaten to not to recognise newly-created Lol state
December 30, 2015(RAGA) – Tribal chiefs from the newly created Lol state have threatened not to recognise the existence of a region, formerly known as Raga county.
“We don’t care whether Rizik [Zakariah Hassan] is the governor of this state or not. We will continue to demonstrate our rights through all means,” Tamim said on Wednesday.
This comes hours after the 28 newly-appointed governors took oath in Juba on Tuesday.
Ever since president Kiir decreed the new states in October, tribal chiefs from Raja county in South Sudan’s Western Bahr al Ghazal state have met and agreed to reject the order annexing their county to Aweil West and Aweil North counties into Lol state.
According to Raga communities, their geographic size, besides cultural differences with the Dinka of Northern Bahr al Ghazal make a amalgamation of the two areas impractical.
The chiefs have also argued that populations from Aweil North and Aweil West counties are pastoralists whereas they are farmers, stressing it is difficult to live together.
President Kiir’s move to create new states was met with criticisms from sections of the South Sudanese population, with the armed opposition faction describing it as a violation of the August peace deal mediated by regional leaders and the international community.
(ST)