A community in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State have accused President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar of failing the country.
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President Kiir shakes hands with his FVP Macahr in a recent meeting at the presidency (SSPPU photo)
The Azande community leaders, in an August 16 statement, accused the country’s leader of marginalization as well as denying citizens their fundamental human rights.
The statement bears names of 33 leaders from all the six counties of Yambio, Nagero, Tambura, Ezo, Ibba, Nzara and Maridi which are inhabited the Azande people.
“Given the way in which the regime of Salva Kiir has undermined the Azande people, we the Azande have decided to join the People’s Coalition for Civil Action in calling Kiir’s regime for a peaceful South Sudan. The Azande people support a regime that will create unity, foster peace, and treat people equally. We the Azande people are democratic, and this regime has failed to respect the choice of the leaders or give the Azande a chance to choose their leaders for appointment”, partly reads the statement.
It added, “For these reasons, we the Azande people for progress call upon the Azande people of the republic of South Sudan all over the world to support People’s Coalition for Civil Action in its call for peaceful transition of power to a new administration which will provide security to its citizens, enforce democratic values, and move our country forward with one national identity and not 64 tribal identities and which will foster peace and development”.
The community accused the government of neglecting people in their quest for self-reliance by failing to invest in physical infrastructure that would allow access and connect local farmers and areas to markets in the country and in the region.
“Mindful that Western Equatoria was the food basket for Southern Sudan during liberation struggle, and remain so today, and regardless of this important role, the regime chose to import food items from Uganda rather than improving road networks to western Equatoria so that our farmers can be connected to markets in Juba and across the country,” further stressed the statement.
It accused the government of abandoning people to defend themselves from marauding activities of different rebels operating in the area from Uganda, Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.
The Azande community specifically identified Uganda’s Lord Resistance Army (LRA), Central Africa’s Seleka and the Sudanese nomads from Darfur region as some of the groups with intention to extend territorial control through encroachment and filtration yet the government remained unresponsive to provocations and to annihilate.
Source: Sudan Tribune