---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 11:13 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Lam Akol denounces rebellion To: Group <[email protected]>
It is all to easy to focus only on the ongoing small-scale rebellions which are still capable of causing death and destruction, as happened recently in Unity State, but the diplomatic and political initiatives which the government of South Sudan is pursuing are bearing fruit. John BEGIN Lam Akol denounces rebellion, calls for multiparty democracy in S. Sudan By Julius N. Uma November 6, 2011 (JUBA) — Lam Akol, an opposition leader in South Sudan has strongly condemned the armed rebellions fighting against the government of the newly independent country, advocating for a multiparty democracy. In his first public appearance since his return from Nairobi last month the leader of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement - Democratic Change (SPLM_DC), said that the opposition and government should stop considering each other as enemies. The time was ripe, he said, for the two to engage in a dialogue to foster national unity. “Government should not see the opposition parties as enemies nor should the opposition look at government as a system they can hardly work with. Instead, these two systems of multiparty democracy must co-exist if national dialogue is to be achieved,” he said during a public lecture in Juba, the South Sudan capital on Saturday. The lecture, which based on the theme, "Issues of national dialogue" mainly focused on experiences from African countries that achieved independence in the post-colonial era. He also discussed why South Sudan needed dialogue at this critical moment and underlined issues to be discussed at national levels. The SPLM-DC leader, who received a standing ovation on arrival, also criticised South Sudan’s rampant corruption, which he said had eroded the country. He urged president Salva Kiir to devise stringent measures to ensure that those implicated are prosecuted by law. He specifically applauded Kiir’s five-point anti-corruption policy, but said that the mandate to fight corruption and all forms of graft should not only be left to the audit chamber and anti-corruption commission, but also include the country’s justice ministry. Reacting to the auditor general’s recent report presented before the National Assembly, Akol said the financial shortfalls in the accounts were mainly due to government reluctance to institute a proper tax monitoring system. "A country cannot achieve any meaningful development, unless the government puts in place strong physical and monetary measures to manage the economy," said SPLM-DC leader amid applause. According to Akol, the newly independent South Sudan can only achieve meaningful dialogue if issues encompassing good governance, national unity, economic diversity and food security through agriculture are properly addressed by the system in power. For instance while nearly 80% of the southerners depend on agriculture as the backbone of rural economies, only 4% of the country’s agricultural land is reportedly being used, leaving over a million people food insecure. The SPLM-DC leader also urged the government to adopt a sound agro-based policy aimed at tapping agricultural potentials in the country. He also called for a massive reduction in government expenditure at the national level. “For South Sudan to succeed, it needs to adopt a proper strategic plan that addresses the agricultural sector to give a relative competitive edge over other countries in regional markets,” he said. The SPLM-DC broke away from South Sudan’s ruling party - former rebels the SPLM. Since then the two have had a rocky relationship with the SPLM-DC being accused of by senior SPLM figures of supporting militia groups in South Sudan. This has always been denied by the SPLM-DC, who threatened to take the SPLM’s secretary general Pagan Amum to court over the issue. In elections in 2010, SPLM-DC became the largest party in South Sudan’s parliament despite claiming that the vote was not free and fair. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/Lam-Akol-denounce-rebellion-call,40647 END______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. 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