Appeal for forgiveness and pardon of John Agou Wuoi

H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit,
President and Commander-in-Chief,
of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA),
Republic of South Sudan (RSS),
5th February, 2018.

Through:
Hon. Michael Makuei Lueth
Chairman of the Greater Bor Community

Subject: Appeal for Forgiveness and Pardon of Our son John Agou Wuoi

Your Excellency,

We wish to take this earliest opportunity to congratulate Your Excellency and the people of South Sudan for the New Year 2018. May it bring peace, stability and unity to the people of South Sudan. We also wish to thank and appreciate Your Excellency for the tremendous service you have rendered to the people of South Sudan in the face of enormous challenges and disappointments in your efforts to bring peace, stability and unity to South Sudan. We applaud Your Excellency’s wise decision to launch the National Dialogue Process which we strongly support and which we believe will lead to the everlasting peace, stability and unity in our beloved country.

You are our Biblical Joshua chosen by God to lead the people of South Sudan to the land of great abundance as embodied in our National Anthem.

Your Excellency, it is not lost on us; first as ordinary citizens of the Republic of South Sudan and second as representatives of the very same people of South Sudan at the grassroots level that you have made great sacrifices both at a personal and political level to see to it that there is peace, stability and prosperity in South Sudan. As leaders of the people of South Sudan at the grassroots level, we wish to reiterate our unwavering support to Your Excellency as a person and President of the Republic of South Sudan as well as the entire Government of the Republic of South Sudan. We stand with you in Your Excellency’s quest for peace, stability and unity in South Sudan that will ultimately lead to Justice, Liberty and Prosperity as embodied in our National Coat of Arms.

Your Excellency, as representatives of the people at the grassroots levels, we are also very much aware of the issues affecting our people at the national level. It is this level of awareness that made us take this unprecedented step of writing to Your Excellency through our elected representatives at the national level to bring to Your Excellency’s attention the dire health and humanitarian situation of our son John Agou Wuoi.

As you may be aware Your Excellency, John Agou Wuoi who hails from Makuach County in Jonglei State was one of the individuals jailed because of corruption of case at your office. He was jointly jailed with some senior officials in the Office of the President – who we have since learnt – were pardoned by Your Excellency through a Presidential Order on 6th December 2017. However, John Agou Wuoi was not included in this Presidential Pardon. He was left out for reasons that are yet to be known even though all of them were equally accused of having committed the same crime.

We have also learnt that John Agou Wuoi is very sick and he has been referred abroad for further specialized treatment and management that are not possible within the prison environment or even in South Sudan. The health of our son John Agou Wuoi is declining and deteriorating as a result of these illnesses. In addition, John Agou Wuoi has a young family that he needs to raise and provide for as a husband and a father. It is for this reason that we are appealing to Your Excellency to forgive and pardon our son John Agou Wuoi for mistakes he may have done and show him kindness and mercy just like you have done with many people who have benefited from Your Excellency’s kind and forgiving heart.

We wish to express our commitment to Your Excellency that we will ensure that our son John Agou Wuoi complies with orders of the Court or further conditions as may be directed by Your Excellency. We want to give you our assurances as community elders of John Agou Wuoi that we have talked to him and advised him to be a law-abiding and God fearing citizen of this country moving forward.

We are therefore appealing to Your Excellency to forgive and pardon our John Agou Wuoi in line with Your Excellency’s constitutional prerogative to grant pardon or remit prison sentences as stated in Article 101 (H) of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 Amended 2015 on health and humanitarian grounds by remitting the prison sentence imposed on him by the court in order to allow him to undergo medical treatment as recommended by the National Medical Commission. On behalf of our entire community, we appeal to Your Excellency in the name of forgiveness, mercy and humanity to forgive and pardon our son John Agou Wuoi on health and humanitarian grounds.

We thank you in advance Your Excellency for considering our appeal as we look forward to hearing back from Your Excellency.

Yours Sincerely,

Names of Signatories;

1. Chief Gideon Alier Aluong – Paramount Chief, Jonglei State.

8. Mrs. Dook Chuor – Women’s Representative, Jonglei State.

Cc:

• Hon. Eng. Kuol Manyang Juuk – Greater Bor Community Elder.

• File.