Give no more room to “betrayers of the nation”, says WBEG governor

[Elisabeth Janaina]

Give no more room to “betrayers of the nation”, says WBEG governor



May 16, 2013 (JUBA) - South Sudan should give no more concessions to
“betrayers of the nation”, the governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal
state said on Thursday, in an apparent reference to rebel groups
active in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states.
The region of Greater Bahr el Ghazal is hosting a forum on political
and economic issues (Source: Office of W. Bahr el Ghazal Governor)
Governor Rizik Zachariah Hassan reaffirmed support to the leadership
of the governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), stressing
the need to reject giving any more ground to rebel groups.

“We are obligated to stand firmly and give our full support to the
hierarchy of the SPLM and to our national government and give no more
room to the betrayers of the nation. The unity of the people of South
Sudan should be the [noble] goal to peace lover[s] in the republic”,
he said.

A group of around 3,000 rebels recently accepted an amnesty offer by
president Salva Kiir and crossed back into Unity state from
neighbouring Sudan. However, rebels loyal to David Yau Yau’s movement
in Jonglei and John Uliny’s group in Upper Nile state have so far
rejected the offer.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Speaking at a conference he is hosting in Wau for the four states of
South Sudan’s north-western Greater Bahr el Ghazal region, Hassan said
citizens had “great expectations” that the meeting will find ways to
improve security and food production that could help the region become
the breadbasket for the rest of the country.

In a copy of his opening remarks received by Sudan Tribune, Hassan
said the region “should set an example for the whole South Sudan, to
appreciate the sacrifices of our fallen heroes, heroines and martyrs
that gave their lives for [an independent state]”.

South Sudan gained independence in 2011 after decades of conflict with
various Khartoum governments.

Hassan said that South Sudanese should make the most of their hard
fought independence by working for the “common good” and providing
services that meet the aspirations of the people and help the nation
building process.

The speaker of the South Sudan’s national legislative assembly, James
Wani Igga, also spoke at the opening session of the Greater Bahr el
Ghazal conference in Wau town, where he is participating on behalf of
president Kiir.

DISPUTES WITH SUDAN

Igga called on citizens to reject tribal politics and urged them to
help the government consolidate peace and reconciliation efforts in
order to focus on settling post-secession disputes with Sudan.

“I want to sincerely give you a vote of thanks for organising this
conference. The people of Bahr el Ghazal are great people. Your
support to the movement was unshakable and you should continue with
this spirit because the journey we started has not been completed”,
Igga told the conference.

“The independence is one of the steps we have taken but the whole
journey is in progress. There are a lot of challenges for us to
address together because we are still on a rough road fraught with
lots of invisible thorns and mud. But I must assure you that the
government and the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement are fully committed to achieving the principle objectives and
the vision of the movement”, he added.

Igga said South Sudan remained fully committed to pursuing ways to
resolve post-secession disputes with the government of neighbouring
Sudan, but did not elaborate on how the country’s leadership plans to
resolve contentious issues such as Abyei and other contested regions,
as well as the demarcation of oil-rich border areas.

“Our team responsible with the border file is in Addis Ababa to
present our collections to the African Union experts on [the] border.
It is led by the minister of parliamentary affairs”, Michael Makuei
Lueth”, Igga told reporters.

BORDER DEAL WITH DARFUR

Governor Hassan also informed the conference of the efforts being made
by his administration to reach an understanding with Sudan’s western
region of Darfur, which borders Western and Northern Bahr el Ghazal
states, to exchange those abducted during the conflict, as well as
encourage cross-border contacts and movement.

“The border with Darfur is relatively stable but there is an illegal
migration activity by pastoralists in the area. Early this year there
was an incident in Kit Kit, Balbala, Abjuko where our forces were
attacked and some women and children were abducted. Other[s] were
injured and murdered. But last month we reached an agreement to
exchange abductees. Eight women with nine children were released from
that side to us. We also made [the] release [possible] of three women
and six children”, he explained.

RELATIONS WITH CENTRAL AFRICA REPUBLIC

The governor further underlined that his government was closely
monitoring the security situation at the border with the Central
Africa Republic (CAR) where a coalition of rebels recently toppled the
government and declared themselves the new leaders of the country.

Neighbouring countries are awaiting further information on the new
regime’s foreign policy.

“At the moment we are relatively in peace at the border area with
[the] Central [African] Republic. We are monitoring the evolving
events which remain grey so far”, Hassan said.

(ST)