Top peace monitor says people starve to death in South Sudan’s Mundri county
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February 02, 2016 (JUBA) – People are starving to death in Mundri
county of the newly created Amadi state in South Sudan according to
the report by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), a
body monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement signed in
August last year.
JPEG - 39.3 kb
Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Chairperson Festus
Mogae meets with community leaders and civil society groups during a
visit to Bentinu on January 14, 2016 (UNMISS Photo)
Speaking at the opening of JMEC meeting attended by government and
opposition officials on Tuesday, former President of Botswana and JMEC
chairman, Festus Mogae, said the death occurred due to continued
fighting between government and opposition forces.
“I was told this morning that one of the ceasefire monitoring teams,
which recently visited Mundri, found people there are starving to
death,” said Mogae.
Mogae expressed “disappointment” that the parties have failed to form
a transitional government of national unity (TGoNU) last month.
“Disappointed that I am not here today to see a new transitional
government in place. Disappointed that another date has come and gone.
This disappointment stems not solely because a day on a calendar was
missed, but because the potential, the opportunity, the possibility of
a new government is so close, so vital for this country, that it must
be taken,” he said.
“Every day we spend here I think of the children I met growing up
without the chance of education, the chance of bettering their own
lives denied through no fault of their own. When will independence
make a difference for these people? For all of your people? Africa has
too many lost generations already,” he added.
According to JMEC timetable, TGoNU should have been formed on January
22. The parties missed the deadline after disagreeing on number of
states. Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) council of
ministers urged the parties to form TGoNU this week and resolve the
issue of 28 states later.
President Salva Kiir created the new states in October, two months
after signing the peace agreement. Mogae said the economic situation
is worsening and there is need to save lives.
“When I left South Sudan in January, the South Sudanese pound was
under 20 to the dollar. Today, I am told, it is close to 30. As a
former central bank governor, as a former official at the IMF, I know
how difficult it is for the economy to be managed in unstable times.
But I plead with you to avoid ruin: form the transitional government
of national unity without further delay, restore stability, repair the
damage that has been done before it is too late, so that urgent
economic assistance can become available,” he said.
Prices of basic commodities surged since the central bank and finance
ministry devalued the South Sudanese pounds against the United States
dollar.
Mogae said he expected parties in the meeting on Tuesday to take
practical and immediate action to complete the tasks necessary to
establish a new government, to agree on the urgency of introducing
phased arrangements for the transitional security arrangements
necessary for the capital city, Juba.
The interaction also discussed how the work of the other transitional
security institutions can be accelerated and to identify, further to
previous commitments, any additional steps that can be taken by the
Parties to ensure constraints on humanitarian access are removed.
“I expect to report again to the AU Peace and Security Council, and to
the UN Security Council on the status of implementation of the
Agreement within weeks. I hope my next report can be more positive
than my last, and that the delays that have plagued the process so far
cease,” he said.
(ST)
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