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Jonglei and Boma governors urge disarmament as the means to peace

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South Sudan
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UNMISS
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GIDEON SACKITEY

The governors of Jonglei and Boma have called on the national government to start the process of disarmament as a definite means of ensuring safety and security of the people, while sustaining the recently signed revitalized peace agreement.

“I believe that the situation where almost every citizen is armed would not help us. We need entire disarmament so that the real task of government and governors will be seen,” said Boma’s Governor David Yao Yao when he met his Jonglei counterpart, Philip Aguer.

He was handing over a total of 76 cows that were stolen from the Jale community last year by suspected Murle youth, who also killed 14 persons.

It is the second time Yao Yao is handing over raided cows to the Governor of Jonglei. In November 2018, he handed over 40 stolen cows, which were forwarded to their owners in Jonglei.

“I have made this point known to the national government: that disarmament is an important step to take if we must bring about peace and security to our communities. If this is done, then the resistance facing government would be eliminated,” Yao Yao noted.

“When are we going to start this campaign against criminals and make peace a lasting thing in our community, so we can have development,” he interrogated the crowd, made up mainly of the youth of the town and visitors.

Yao Yao expressed worry at the sophistication of the arms being held by civilians, saying, “this is the reason why I have made it clear to the national government for the start of a national campaign to collect arms from civilians.

“I want to call on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and the international community to help us in this process, and make the peace we have a lasting one, Yao Yao said, adding, “I am being sincere. Already the Mission is doing a lot to help bring peace to South Sudan, but we need more help.”

He said since the arms in civilian hands are sophisticated, adding, “they [criminals] are stronger than us. And we should not be blamed if we [as governors] are unable to keep the peace.”

“We need the deployment of the national army in the areas where people have engaged in criminal activity and I am sure we will stop this criminality,” he suggested.

Governor Philip Aguer said he agreed with the call for disarmament, “to have peace in the Greater Jonglei area and in the country at large.”

“It is in this vein also that I support the creation of a joint police force for training at Gadiang, where we propose to train about 2,500 people to be deployed in Jonglei and Boma States” he said.