Greater Equatoria region split over rebel support
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March 25, 2014 (JUBA) - Leaders and intellectuals from South Sudan's
Greater Equatoria are sharply divided over whether the region should
support a rebellion against president Salva Kiir's government or
remain neutral.
The governor of Western Equatoria state, Colonel Bangasi Joseph
Bakosoro, said on Tuesday that a statement released earlier this week
by the Greater Equatoria Council of Rights (GRECOR) declaring support
for former vice-president turned rebel leader Riek Machar did not
represent the views of the region as a whole.
"The views expressed in the release do not represent the people of
Equatoria. Yes, those outside the region in the diaspora are our
brothers and sisters but what they say does not necessarily represent
our people inside the country," Bakosoro said in a statement broadcast
on state-owned South Sudan Television (SSTV).
In the 22 March press statement signed by the body's chairperson Wani
Tombe, GRECOR said Machar's vision is "consistent with the
comprehensive and detailed aspirations of the peoples of [the]
Equatoria region" and the wider population of South Sudan in general.
GRECOR, an umbrella organisation representing various political
parties, communities and NGOs of the Equatoria region, also expressed
its willingness to join the armed opposition group in ongoing peace
talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, saying negotiations to
date had largely focused on Upper Nile and Bahr el Ghazal regions,
excluding Greater Equatoria.
The statement drew mixed reactions from youth and intellectuals from
the area spoken to by Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.
While some supported the call to join the rebellion, others said the
comments were an attempt by GRECOR members to seek the government's
attention for their own advantage.
"This conflict is becoming an opportunity for employment by the
opportunists and betrayers. If you have been following closely the
political activities of some of [South Sudan's] leaders during [the]
interim period, you have seen that there were people who did not want
the South to secede from Sudan. One Wani Tombe was one of these groups
... He decided to remain in Sudan, where he decided yesterday to make
this poisonous release because he is hoping to take advantage of the
peace that may be signed so that he could get a position," Nelson
Moses Duku said on Tuesday.
However, Johson Juma, a native of Eastern Equatoria's Magwi County
refuted Duku's claims, pointing out that issues raised in GRECOR's
statement were consistent with the views of the people in the region
"I think some of our leaders have been confused by their positions to
the extent that they are unable to know the people of Equatoria have
for long time been marginalised and subordinated. Instead of rejecting
the call, the leaders should first of all study the genuineness of the
issues raised in the release," Juma told Sudan Tribune.
"I have read it thoroughly and what I found out is that it calls on
our people in all the three Equatoria states to work together and
mobilise the support for the cause of the opposition movement because
issues identified by this group are consistent to the aspirations of
the people of Equatoria," he adds.
(ST)
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