Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Calls for Peace and Reconciliation in Lakes state
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January 15, 2015 (SSB) — A high delegation of South Sudanese church leaders led by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul has descended on Rumbek, calling for peace, unity and reconciliation among the warring clans of Lakes state. The peace and reconciliation drive come amidst apparent failure by the state and central governments to strike a workable solution to the perennial conflict in Lakes state.
Lakes state has been in the news for intra-tribal conflict and targeted revenge killings since the pre-CPA era. The persistence and the ugliness of the killing led to the dismissal of the former elected governor, Chol Tong Mayay Jang.
Chol Tong, who won over 86% of the gubernatorial votes, was replaced with the present military caretaker governor, Gen. Matur Chut Dhuol. The situation has dramatically deteriorated under the new caretaker governorship of Gen. Matur Chut.
Revenge killing and inter-clan warfare have brutally increased, leading to the killing of Governor Matur Chut’s own brother, Paramount Chief Apareer Chut Dhuol in August 2014.
Instead of restoring normalcy to the conflict stricken region, Matur Chut has practically become part of the problem, not the solution. Most sections of the Agaar community see biasedness and partiality in all his decisions regarding the conflict. He is accused of having taken side favoring his own clan and wanting to revenge the killing of his brother.
Despite numerous pleas by the government, including President Kiir himself, for the clans to cease senseless fighting, the revenge killing is still going on. This is exacerbated by the unilateral actions by the military governor. He recently dismissed his entire cabinet and has just unilaterally nominated and endorsed his new cabinet without the approval of the state assembly.
All indications are that the state government is paralyzed while the central government is helplessly watching, not even pretending to help anymore, by words or deeds. It is reported that the joint force of the police and military, sent in by the government to maintain peace and order among clans, has unilaterally withdrawn themselves from all the hotspots.
It is claimed that the local communities, that largely perceive the joint forces as Matur Chut’s occupation army, do not share vital information with the police and the military concerning the fighting and revenge killings. This rendered the forces useless as they have no information to track down the perpetrators of the violence crimes.
With the incapacitation of the state government and the helplessness of the central government in Juba, Church leaders under the leadership of Archbishop Deng Bul have decided to take the matter into their own hands and chart a sustainable solution to the political and military stalemate of Lakes State.
Whether or not the peace, unity and reconciliation drive would succeed or be acceptable to the local people is another question altogether.
While some people would surely criticize the new push by the religious leaders as an exercise in futility as has always been the case in Lakes state, the fact is that no one has any viable solution to the conflict in Lakes state.
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