Open letter to Akec Tong Aleu, the Governor of Tonj State
4 min readSubject: Condemnation of the recent killings in Thony (Manyany-Ngok)
By Chuol Deng Chuol, Juba, South Sudan
April 30, 2016 (SSB) —- The Thony students Community in and outside the country are utterly dismayed and disappointed by the recent news in which some unprofessional soldiers brought by your leadership dumped their constitutional mandate to protect the civilians and their properties, killed people and burn down houses in Manyany-Ngok. We condemn in the strongest terms possible those malicious and duplicitous actions by the commanding officer which are so devilish.’
Your appointment as the first governor of Tonj state was received with high expectations that you would be fair and competent enough In your supremacy, people celebrated your appointment for you were once known to be a peace tender leader, a man who was capable of maintaining security but all has turned out to be a mere miscalculation of your political status.
Mr. Governor, I am not going to focus on how much you have failed to maintain Security in Tonj State but on the recent atrocities committed against Thony Community by your unprofessional Army under the command of your uncle Madhol CholThuc, former Commissioner of Tonj East County.It is noticeably clear that the disarmament mission is contrary to burning down of houses, killings of children, women and elderly people who don’t hold guns. Your instructions and commands to your untrained soldiers are far from that of disarmament mission if perceived correctly.
In the first incident carried out by your army, two people were killed and two others wounded but that was taken to be an oversight as it continues in the second attack which led to the death of two people and one wounded.
Mr Governor, The most painful attack on 28th April has proved that something dubious is being cooked. Your army strategised and attacked a cattle camp at 4:00 am with the intention of clearing Thony out. They killed children, burn to ashes number of houses which contain foods, goats and all the house hold properties and took with them more than 500 cows. What has remained again? Walls without roofs and the wounded ones without food and shelter.
But again since your assumption of office, Thony Community had been under constant attack from the three sections of Apuk juwiir, Yar and Mouk to whom you belong but your position and ability to restore peace has been questionable since all these atrocities are rooted to these communal fights in Tonj South.
Why is there no official condemnation from your office if all these killings by the army which claimed the lives of more than 30 people have got nothing to do with you?
Every vilgilance citizen of Tonj South knows very well how this Community of Thony had been left handedly treated in your government and on behalf of all Thony Intellectual community I would like to bring out some suggestions that your government can do to at least create an atmosphere of peace between the civilians and the government.
Firstly, your office should come out pubily to condemn the incident and apologized to the People of Thony, detach itself from all incidents and give reason to why one section is being targeted.
Secondly, as no one is above the law, Government should bring to book the perpetrators behind this attempt of obliteration and make them accountable for the damage and pain inflicted.
Last but not the least, Rehabilitation and provision of non food items to the families whose houses were burnt should be initiated by the Government, for it will be unbearable without shelter in this rainy season.
Thank you.
On behalf of all Thony Students community who are deeply saddened by this instigated murder.
Chuol Deng Chuol
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