South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit
instructed the army Monday to immediately take control of situations when the
police are unable provide security; such as the recent violence in Wau.
Security had been stepped up in
preparation for Kiir’s visit after a series of clashes between communities and
the police. Estimates on the numbers killed and wounded vary greatly but the
government has confirmed that 15 people have died. Other sources put the figure
much higher.
Kiir said that controversial the
decision of the Western Bahr el Ghazal cabinet to relocate administrative
headquarters of Wau County, which has caused protests and clashes with police,
would not only benefit the local population.
Speaking to a large crowd on Monday,
Kiir said that the Governor Rizik Zachariah Hassan had not take the decision to
relocate the county headquarters alone; he was simply implementing the policy
of South Sudan’s ruling party.
"It is the policy of the SPLM to
take town to our people in rural areas and must be implemented. And if there
are people who refused and was the reason they caused chaos that resulted to
the loss of lives of innocent people, they must live with this reality”, Kiir
told crowd in an authoritative tone.
The visibly annoyed the President said
he would have fought with the people who refused transfer of the administrative
headquarters from Wau town to Bagari if it was the reason for fighting.
On 8 and 9 December, eight people were
killed, according to the government, when police attempted to remove road
blocks around Wau that had been established in protest against the transfer of
the administrative centre.
The United Nations Mission in South
Sudan (UNMISS) initially put the death toll at ten before revising this down to
nine. Former Wau County commissioner, John Peter Miskin, claimed that 25 people
were killed and 21 others were wounded in the protests two weeks ago.
Ten days after the initial violent
protests a further 12 people are reported to have died in the second protest on
Tuesday 18 December with more people wounded. However, South Sudan’s deputy
interior minister, Salva Mathok Gengdit, said that only seven people died and
32 been have been wounded in that incident.
Despite the opposition Kiir said:
"The cabinet decision was the right choice which the governor has made. It
will benefit people in so many ways. It will take services closer to the
people".
"The county headquarters will not
function in isolation of essential services providing institutions. There will
be [a] police unit. There will be health facilities. There will be schools.
There will be road connecting the county to the state and agricultural
extension services will be provided when agricultural extension officers are
deployed to the county", Kiir told the crowd at Wau football Stadium.
While in Wau, Kir addressed various
groups, including top-level military and police officers as well as
representatives of the diplomatic communities and religious leaders after his
heavily guarded arrival on Monday.
“The SPLA should immediately take
charge in the situation where police is overwhelmed to provide and maintain
adequate security until when police is able to handle it”, Kiir told the army.
He called on traditional leaders and
youth groups to avoid being used by politicians and instead strengthen
traditional values and ancestral relations among community members in the
state. He urged the state administration to arrest those suspected of
instigating the protest and the killing of innocent Dinka civilians in
Parajallah locality in Bagari area.
The attack on civilians 48 miles south
west of Wau town in Parajallah killed 26 people according to local authorities,
when Balanda youth groups set upon migrant workers from the Dinka tribe
carrying traditional weapons, including sticks and hurling stones.
Authorities initially have arrested
eight suspects in connection with the deaths in Parajallah, which is located in
the Bagari area; the proposed new location for the headquarters Wau County.
Bagari is inhabited by the Balanda
tribe, also known as the Fartit, whose youth groups and intellectuals have
rejected the proposed relocation of the Wau County administration.
Reacting to the Parajallah killings
Kiir condemned “this culture of killing people because of their identity"
asking: "Where did this culture of killing innocent people come from?
Where did this culture of hacking people come? If you have already killed
people why again cut them to the extent that you even cut their private parts.
You cut women, killed children and put them to feed on dead mothers. People
have been crucified like the way Jesus was killed. Why?"
"This is strange and must not be
entertained. Those who instigated this must be identified and brought to book”,
he instructed.
Kiir directed the security apparatus
to help the state administration identify the suspects and called on
legislators to educate their constituents to observe their rights as enshrined
in the national transitional constitution.
Meanwhile, traditional leaders from
different communities in Western Bahr El Ghazal State expressed condemned the
recent violence and called for peaceful co-existence. Chief Joseph Stephen
Fougi from the Kalfario Fartit group condemned the killing of innocent
civilians, calling for thorough investigation. He said Fartit tribes have no
problem with other tribes and that they are committed to the Mabil Peace Accord
that prohibits violence.
Chief Santo Deng, a member of Greater Bahr
el Ghazal Community Association described the incidents as sad and that
perpetrators must be arrested. Wau’s communities are very peaceful, Deng said,
and have no problem with each other. He pledged commitment to work with the
state government to track down the perpetrators behind the violence and all
other incidents. He appealed to all communities in the state to respect each
other and maintain law and order.
Speaking at the same gathering,
Governor Rizik Zachariah Hassan commended the governors of the states
neigbouring Western Bahr el Ghazal for showing solidarity during the crisis.
The group that killed the 26 innocent civilians in Parajallah were a militia
group that must be tracked down and brought to book with immediacy, he said.
“Our president, allow me [to] tell you
that what happened was not just a mere expression of an opinion by the
citizens. It was [a] clear act of criminality. Those who killed innocent
civilians in Parajallah are rebels and they must be hunted and brought to book
immediately. The committee has been formed and they are being hunted”, Hassan
said.
Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Minister of
Health, Michael Milly Hassan, who was part of the presidential entourage who
spoke at the gathering to welcome Kiir, said "he was shocked" by the
incident and called on the community to follow the rule of law.
Hassan said Western Bahr el Ghazal was
badly affected by the decades of civil war that preceded South Sudan’s
independence last year and people were "still traumatised". He called
for the establishment of peace and reconciliation committees in the state to
address differences the tribes of the area.
Hassan is a member of the Balanda
community whose intellectuals and youth groups have rejected relocating Wau
County headquarters to Bagari, some 12 miles southwest of Wau town. The
minister has kept a low profile, while some prominent figures in his community
including senior military officers have been implicated in the protest by
security reports.
Kiir will also meet with the Governor
of Warrap State Nyandeng Malek, Governor of Lakes State Chol Tong Mayay and
top-level military and police officers. The President held meetings with the
state security committee, as well as the peace and reconciliation committee. He
also held meetings with youth representatives and traditional leaders.
The president also opened Wau airport
during his six hour stay in Western Bahr el Ghazal.
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