A civil society body has strongly condemned the attempted assassination of South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State Information minister, William Baiki, urging state authorities to hold accountable those who carried out the attack.
Baiki narrowly escaped death when armed men allegedly attacked him at his residence in the state capital, Yambio on Monday night. A suspect attacker was apprehended and handed over to police.
“Community Empowerment for Progress Organization strongly condemns the unfortunate incident involving the minister. This is an unacceptable act and state authorities should hold perpetrators of the attack accountable,” CEPO’s Executive Director, Edmund Yakani said Tuesday.
He attributed the attack on the official to power struggles among the political elites in the state.
Yakani decried the escalation of political violence in Tambura and Yambio counties of Western Equatoria State, urging the country’s top leadership to urgently intervene into the matter.
“Currently, a big population of the communities in Tambura are displaced while targeted killings of political leaders continue in Yambio. The national government needs to demonstrate its responsibility in order to make peace prevail in the country,” he stressed.
The activist appealed to political elites in the state to desist from using violence to retain power.
According to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the violence in and around Tambura County has forced more than 40,000 of the population to flee their homes.
Source: Sudan Tribune