Kiir urges traditional leaders to put national interest above all else
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June 15, 2013 (JUBA) - South Sudanese president Salva Kiir Mayardit on
Saturday urged the population and political leaders to bury their
differences and personal ambition and “put the country above
everything”.
Kiir was speaking to visiting traditional leaders from his home state
of Warrap, with whom he discussed the important role traditional
leadership played in promoting stability during the two decades of
civil war with neighbouring Sudan from which the new nation seceded in
2011.
Chief Ayii Ayii, who spoke to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, said as part
of their mission they had congratulated the president for championing
peace and unity in the country.
He said he had given the president a number of gifts, including a bull
and ajhom, traditionally decorated headwear customarily given to a
leader as a sign of love, respect and confidence in the leadership
style.
He said the traditional leaders had taken away a strong and powerful
message from their meeting with the president about the importance of
their role in promoting peace in their communities.
“Our meeting with the president and members of his government was
excellent. We shared with him what we are doing as traditional
leaders, especially in managing local conflicts within clans and
between communities, between neighbouring counties and as well as
between states. We shared with him challenges and how we plan to
resolve them", he said, adding that cattle raiding remained one of the
most pressing challenges.
He said they are particularly concerned by the issue of cattle
raiding, stressing they discussed the matter at length with president
Kiir. He further went to emphasis that
there are criminals who cross into Luac jang from areas under Panijar
county in Unity state.
"This is becoming a serious issue because these people do not just
take cows, they also kill people they find in cattle camps and burn
down houses. This is a new development which we cannot handle alone.
It requires government intervention to deploy more police and other
armed groups", he said.
According to Ayii, the president told leaders his government was aware
of the situation and that he would ensure the minister of interior and
defence, as well as concerned state governors address the issues
raised.
Chief Ayii said the president had repeatedly emphasised to leaders the
importance of placing national interest above everything else, quoting
Kiir as saying chiefs were the eyes and ears of the government at the
lower level in the country.
“Traditional leadership is itself the government. Your duties are
spelled out clearly in the constitution under the local government
act. You are the eyes and ears of the government at the lower level,
so you have a lot of responsibilities. You must ensure that everything
our people do should not be for personal interest. The national
interest should be above everything we do”, Kiir was quoted as telling
the chiefs.
Ayii said the president had also said there was very little his
administration could do about the recent decision of the Sudanese
government to shut down the flow of oil to export markets, stressing
that there were things they could do on a domestic level to improve
the resilience of the economy.
“There things that we can do including engaging constructively with
our partners to address socio-economic issues, removing bottlenecks in
infrastructure development, strengthening the role of state-owned
entities, and fighting corruption. We also need you to engage our
people in cultivation”, Kiir was reported to have said.
(ST)
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