Chiefs Petition Leaders To Recognize Abyei Poll Outcome Chiefs and civil society organizations from Northern Bahr el Ghazal state on Friday held peaceful demonstrations calling on the international community to recognize the Abyei referendum results. 16 November 2013
*By Abraham Agoth* *AWEIL, 15 November 2013 [Gurtong] - *While chanting and singing Dinka traditional songs, the group of demonstrators handed over a petition to the governor asking him to further deliver their message to President of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit and his counterpart Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir to respect and implement the outcome of Abyei Referendum. “We Civil Society Organizations, Chiefs, Women and Youth of Aweil, take this opportunity to declare our total support and recognition to the recent outcome of Abyei referendum. The Abyei referendum was conducted peacefully and in accordance with the provisions and the rights enshrined in Abyei Protocol of 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The Protocol clearly states that the voters who would determine the destiny of Abyei are nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms and that was what exactly happened on October 31st 2013,” Piol Geng Ariath, representing the chiefs read the letter to the governor. While in possession of the letter, the governor appreciated the initiatives from the chiefs, youths, women and civil society organization for the nationalistic-heartfelt decision and promised that the letter will soon be forwarded to the president of South Sudan. “This is a good thing to do as citizens who are loyal to their country and having one brotherhood hearts, this is your right as citizens to be watchful and say such things as Abyei people are part of you and you are part of them, your concern is received and I am promising you of forwarding it to our president,” Governor Paul Malong told the petitioners while receiving the petition. The governor also assured the groups that the government of South Sudan has not yet released its position officially but promised to reveal the outcome to them as soon as the government decides. While leaving the governor’s office, the groups further matched to United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) office where they delivered another petition to the UNMISS state coordinator Seyez Kumi who received and accepted the letter acknowledging to the lobbyists that the letter shall be delivered to the UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General South Sudan, Ms Hilde Johnson who will further forward the same message to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. “Our mandate is to maintain peaceful coexistence of every community, and as such, your request is received and will be channelled to the concerned authority, thanks for such a peaceful petition,” Kumi said. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14opY3npXpTXrKKqvfU4rv_v5ESdsOX%3DkQfZUSHq79N_UAw%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
