South Sudan government should support efforts by the Joint Defence Board (JDB) to expedite demilitarisation procesa in Tambura County of Western Equatoria State, a civil society body said.
In a statement issued on Monday, Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO) expressed concerns over disputes and violence fuelled by social media messages from a section of the country’s citizens.
“This [social media posts] is bad and worrying. The social media trend on Tambura disputes is fuelling and building up attitudes for violence and creating fear on the population,” said CEPO’s Executive Director, Edmund Yakani.
He appealed to the national government to mitigate insecurity in Tambura by supporting the JDB.
“The national government needs to confirm to the nation if the violence in Tambura is leading to formation of armed youth groups from the conflict communities,” stressed Yakani.
According to Yakani, the humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons in Tambura needs to be urgently addressed. He appealed to the political elites to take responsibility to make peace prevail.
“This trend of creating armed group for youth of the conflicting parties is unaccepted and the national government should intervene,” he said.
In the last few months, Tambura County has witnessed violent clashes involving elements of the armed opposition (SPLA-IO) and forces loyal to Gen. James Nando who defected from the SPLA-IO to South Sudan army (SSPDF) last year.
The conflict in Tambura, local officials say, has displaced more than 80,000 people from their homes and remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
Source: Sudan Tribune