Northern Bahr el Ghazal Backs Rejection Mile 14 Agreement
The chairpersons of Committees in Northern Bahr el Ghazal Assembly have rejected the call from the national government to ratify the Addis Ababa agreements signed in between Sudan and South Sudan. 14 November 2012 The Northern Bahr el Ghazal State protestors at the South Sudan National Assembly in October. [Gurtong | File] By Abraham Agoth AWEIL, 14 November 2012 [Gurtong] - Speaking to the journalists, after a closed door meeting chaired by Northern Bahr el Ghazal governor, Majang Ngor Kuany, the chairperson for Information Committee said, “We are saying the steps taken by our negotiators (South Sudan) during their discussion meetings in Ethiopian Capital were not consultative and productive in a sense that they neglected the very people whose land lies in their area.” “ We the leadership of Northern Bahr el Ghazal Assembly request our national government to reverse its decision of including Mile 14 in the recent agreement signed in Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa.” Majang said. He revealed that the governor asked for the reopening of the assembly so that they ratify the recent agreement signed between two Sudan and South Sudan excluding Mile 14. “We shall open the assembly next week, so that the Assembly members come and ratify the rest of the eight agreements except Mile 14,” he said. However, Majang was optimistic that the people of Northern Bahr el Ghazal do not have any problem with the recent agreements signed but only that the issue of Mile 14 which was done in an isolation. “For the negotiators, we cannot believe them, because they did not consult the people of Northern Bahr el Ghazal on this issue when the discussion was taking place in Addis Ababa, that’s why we have been telling the negotiators to come and brief Aweil citizens but they have not come up to now, it would have worked better if our government had called our local chiefs or representatives from Northern Bahr el Ghazal as Sudan did to its people in South Kordofan whose area was also affected by Mile 14,” he said. He clarified the need for the Rizeigat and Misseriya to come and graze their cattle in Northern Bahr el Ghazal peacefully despite the recent disputes on Mile 14. “We don’t have a problem with Rizeigat people, in trade and other neighbouring related issues; we don’t have a problem at all unless they follow the footsteps of this Mile 14, the trade and other ties between two countries should continue,” he told journalists. Northern Bahr el Ghazal people have been holding debates regarding Mile 14 rejection including the Diaspora. After a series of consultative talks with various local chiefs, intellectuals, students abroad and MPs, Governor Paul Malong held related meetings with his cabinet on Monday upon his return from his trip in India, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda where Aweil citizens supported the rejection of Mile 14 agreement. Northern Bahr el Ghazal State citizens marched to the South Sudan National Assembly (SSNA) in October denouncing the four freedoms which compose the citizenship agreement and also placing of Mile-14 in Northern Bahr el Ghazal as a disputed area. Posted in: Home, Foreign Relations, Governance, Parliaments -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
