Twic East must be divided into five new counties or must remain a one super county.
3 min read“Geography has made neighbours. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And Necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder”. President John.F.Kennedy in Ottawa Canada 1961.
By Isaac Akuoch Chol, Juba South Sudan
March 16, 2016 (SSB) — Twi East County currently has five administrative units or payams. It flag has the portrait of one of the most admirable bird species in Africa, the red-crown crane which is locally known as Arialbeek. This bird not only unites the Twi people it also portrays a lot about their behaviour, interrelations and co-relations. The majestic, upright, calm and adorable qualities of this bird are the same qualities exhibit unceasingly by the inhabitants of this area. Twi people are kind, benevolent, somewhat innocent, keen and above all intelligent exactly like Arialbeek.
People in this County are so much intermarried and interdependent that they appeared like they are descendants of a single lineage. Their physical land boundaries are communal and grazing rights are shareable without major quarrels.
However now as modernization sets in and the centre of governance is increasingly being devolved, Twi East is also likely to have a share of problems brought by these developments.
With the former ten States of South now portioned into twenty eight entities, Twic East County is possibly going to be divided into a certain number of prospective counties.
Speculations at this juncture indicate that the new Jonglei State will have a total of seven counties: four in former Bor County, two in Twi area and Duk County to remain undivided.
If this is the case, how will the two counties of Twi area be named? Which payams can be amalgamated together without any resistant? What about the question of county headquarters?
Looking at the current map of Twi East and dividing it into two, we will have North Twic East county and South Twic East County. Lith payam, Kongor payam and the whole of Ayual areas will form the Northern Twic while the Southern Twic will be Awulian, Dachuek of Nyuak, Ajuong payam and Pakeer payam.
Panyagoor can still serve as the headquarters of Northern Twic East because it has the institutions required to carry out County activities i.e. Offices, clinic, police and prisons .
However in Southern Twic East County, choosing a county headquarters could easily ignite disagreement and disintegration. Suppose Maar is chosen, will Paliau accept? If Paliau agrees and both Awulian and Dachuek insist on another location?
There is also the question of Kongor payam demanding its own county or its name be use to generalize the partner payams like lith and Nyuak.since there is Kongor Diocese then there must be Kongor County and this a genuine point!
Building a consensus on these issues in the current political environment is a real test. Our politicians can only manage the role of clan chiefs and the youth cannot stand alone because they are easily manipulated.
Therefore in my opinion, it is wise if we continue to remain as One County if we cannot be five counties.one Super County and we can achieve the unachievable.
Email:akuochishakho@yahoo.com.
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