Petition from the Jo Luo Community Leaders on the issues 0n 1st September 2012:

Who owns Wau Town, the Fertit or the Jo Luo?

By Daniel Machar Dhieu

This is what they have to say, we would like to bring the attention of Your Excellency and every citizen in this nation that at last, the so-called Fertit Community leaders have succeeded in their plan to occupy Wau town and Wau County under the claim made by six tribal groups, namely: the Golo, Balanda, Ngodo, Bongo, Bai and Sere, that Wau area belongs to them. Unfortunately, Governor Rizik Zacharia Hassan has been very instrumental in the implementation of this dangerous initiative, which is likely to lead to tribal frictions in the short run between the Jo Luo and the Fertit over the ownership of Wau town, which the Jo Luo now consider an area of occupation.

When the Jo Luo voted overwhelmingly for Governor Rizik Zacharia Hassan in the 2010 general elections, as opposed to the Jo Luo candidate Hon. Paul Akok Severino, they had thought, on the mistaken belief that the Fertit political leaders had finally reached a state of maturity that has qualified them to abandon tribal squabbles and ethnic groupings, and have thus resorted to healthy party politics. It was not to be so. The Jo Luo Community was proven wrong soon after Governor Rizik Zacharia Hassan took over the reins of power in Western Bahr el Ghazal State (WBGS).

The fist shock felt by the Jo Luo and all the South Sudan people was when WBGS took the lead in the referendum by over seven thousand votes in favor of unity with Sudan, and these voters were specifically from the Fertit Constituencies.

The purpose of this petition is a response to the letter dated 14^th September, 2011 addressed to Hon. John Peter Miskin, Chairman of the Committee for Relocation of Wau County Hqs, and the then State Minster of Local Government WBGS, signed by 31 Fertit Community leaders, intellectuals, youth and women, under the subject entitled “Conversion of Wau Town to Municipality”. The signatories demanded that the Mayor for Wau Municipality, as well as Commissioner of Wau County, be continually appointed from among members of the six ethnic groups mentioned above.

Sadly enough, this demand has been implemented by the Governor of WBGS following his last appointment dated 1.1.2012 whereby in the cabinet of 25 constitutional post holders, 15 are Fertit, 7 Jo Luo and 3 Dinka. In addition to that, all the Director Generals of the Ministries are Fertit, with the exception of TWO, one Jo Luo and one Dinka. It is noteworthy to mention the fact that under Governor Mark Nyipuoc Unong, the appointments in his government by then were in favor of the Fertit. When the Jo Luo Community leaders learnt of the above mentioned Fertit petition, they ignored it once more on the mistaken belief that this futile claim that Wau belongs to the Fertit Community would be criticized and rejected by the Fertit political leaders. We expected these Fertit leaders to be well acquainted with the historical facts surrounding the origins of Wau, and to be also well aware of the dangers which could ensue following revival of tribal conflicts in the State as a result of such irresponsible provocative statements.

Those individuals who persist in claiming that Wau belongs to the six Fertit tribes, should ask their elders who are still alive to give them some oral history lesions. They can also search for supporting documents inorder to learn more from historical books, top among which is the one written by Fr. Stefano Santandrea under the title “A popular History of Wau” from its foundation to about 1940. Moreover, in articles written by late Lewis Umudo, the writer unequivocally states that Wau belongs to the Jo Luo people. The naming of Jur River is also an additional fact that speaks for itself.

In spite for these glaring evidences, the Fertit with the support of the Arabs in the previous Sudan took control of the land that does not belong to them. However this time the Jo Luo communities will NOT this claim of the Fertit lightly any longer. The so-called Fertit community has decided to scratch the old wounds which they had inflicted on the Jo Luo over the last two decades, and which were on the way to healing.

Unfortunately, this is happening at the time when the Republic of South Sudan is engaged in negotiations with the Republic of Sudan over border demarcations that includes claim by Sudan of Kafka Kenji and Hofrat el Nahas. It is paradoxical that instead of concentrating our efforts to secure our land which is in the hands of the enemy, we are engaging ourselves in a senseless tug of war over a straight forward case.

Everybody is aware that Wau town with its surroundings in the South, East and north belongs to the Jo Luo. Our distant neighbors to the West are the Golo and the Sere. The Ndogo and Bai are in the far West of Wau town. As for the Balanda, they refugees who had run away from the Azande invasion of their area at Nagero, and were welcomed and protected by the Jo Luo and the Dinka at large. They eventually settled in Bagari, which is a Jo Luo village called Arit, and which they have been occupying since then. Others were settled in Deim Zubeir, which is also the land of the Luo Chatt. Incidentally, the name “Golo” is known among the Jo Luo as synonymous to the name “Fertit”, even in history books, as guests who have come to settle in areas which are not their original ones.

The Bongos, who do not form part of the Fertit tribes, are the immediate neighbors of the Jo Luo, and are found around Bussere and South West of Tonj (see the tribal map attached).

Wau has been an undisputed town of the Jo Luo people. In fact, it was the Jo Luo Paramount Chief Kuol Ukel who showed the French Commandant Marchand the hill on which Wau was built (1896-98). The Fertit tribes thereby simply took advantage of the way life of the Jo Luo people who, as agriculturists by nature, prefer to settle in villages outside Wau town. The Fertit instead, who are easily adoptive to changes, settled in Wau town, and that is why they have named sections of the town as: Hila Kereish, Hila Fahal, Hila Balanda, etc… They are considered as town dwellers who should not claim the ownership of the area they are occupying.

What is happening now is not new, and that is why we are saying that the Fertit are opening old wounds. During the civil war, that is between 1983 to 2005, the Fertit Malitia known as Kwat el Salam under the command of Tom el Nur Deldum and Osman el Said a northern Sudanese, and with the support of Sudan armed forces under the command of Gen. Abu Gurun, attempted to eliminate all the Jo Luo and the Dinka inside Wau town because these are two tribes were accused of being either SPLA/M inside or 5^th columnists. At that time, several attempts by the Fertit to take over Wau town through the use of arms were fiercely resisted by the Jo Luo and the Dinka with the resultant great loss of lives.

After failure to achieve his objective, Gen. Abu Gurun had to divide Wau town into two parts: the Western part was for the Fertit and the Jalaba, while the Eastern part was for the Jo Luo and the Dinka ethnic groups. Consequently, many Jo Luo and Dinka citizens who had risked crossing to the Fertit side, have never been seen again until today, including children and women who were abducted and sold to the northerners. In Raga town, the Jo Luo and the Dinka were all eliminated. This status quo prevailed until the signing of the Comprehensive peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005.

In Mapel reconciliation under the theme “Cross-line Peace Recovery and reconciliation Conference” between the three ethnic communities of Western Bahr el Ghazal State, was held under the auspices of Vice president, Dr. Riek Machar Teny from 14.3.2005 to 23.3.2005. All issues related to security, administration and social relations between the three ethnic tribes were addressed, and the conference was concluded with a Covenant initialed by the leaders of the three ethnic groups: The Jo Luo, the Dinka and the Fertit, in which they pledged themselves “to observe and implement the Covenant scrupulously and conscientiously in keeping with the solemn vows of Peace, Reconciliation and Familial Co-existence”.

The Covenant opened the way for the former Fertit Militias and National Congress party (NCP) supporters to join the SPLA/M en masses, and these are the people who are now given the political power to victimize the Jo Luo people who stood firmly with the SPLA/M of yesterday. These are the same people claiming the land of the Jo Luo. In a nutshell, what is taking place in WBGS is a clear oppression of the majority ethnic group by a minority.

In conclusion, this petition is intended to remind those so-called Fertit leaders who have taking the Jo Luo people for a ride that the patience of the Jo Luo is running out, and unless they change their attitude and behavior towards their neighbors, then WBGS will sooner or later cease from being considered a peaceful State since the claim of land is involved. Serious tribal confrontations are thus imminent in WBGS.

Hence the need for a prompt intervention from the highest authorities, led by Your Excellency, in order to address the following root causes over the issues of land, power sharing and the management of resources in the State.

1.     To tell the Fertit community to desist from their claim of Wau town which historically belongs to the Jo Luo ethnic group? However be it clear that the Jo Luo are prepared to accept Wau town as the State capital of WBGS in conformity with the government’ policy.

2.     We call upon the Fertit community to adhere to the Mapel Covenant of 2005 which was conducted under the auspices of the Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.

3.     Governor Rizik Zacharia Hassan must be directed to review his unfair allocation of constitutional posts and the control of the civil service posts and the financial resources by the Fertit.

As of present, WBGS has three Counties which are inherited from the NCP regime, whereby the Fertit were given two: Wau and Raga, while the Jo Luo majority and the Dinka were combined in one: Jur River. The Mapel conference had resolved that WBGS be upgraded to six counties and one Municipality, namely:

1.     Wau East County……………………….Hqs         Kuajiena

2.     Marial Wau County…………………….”             Marial Bai

3.     Wau North County…………………….”              Udici

4.     Wau West County……………………..”              Namatina

5.     Kuru County……………………………….”              Deim Zubier

6.     Raga County……………………………….”              Raga

7.     Wau Town Municipality…………”              Wau

Finally we believe that Your Excellency will prevail in resolving this issue in the interest of the citizens of Western Bahr el Ghazal State with justice and fairness.