A team comprising the ceasefire monitory body, CTSAMVM, UNMISS, and headed by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission’s (RRC) chairperson in Western Bahr el Ghazal State on Tuesday went to Baggari Payam of Wau County to quell tensions between the Islamic Relief Organization and the SPLA-IO forces there.
Last week, the SPLA-IO forces in Baggari Payam detained a vehicle belonging to the Islamic Relief Organization and forced the humanitarians to return to Wau town on foot.
On 9 June, the staff of the Islamic Relief Organization went to Baggari and parts of Jur River County to distribute livestock, including goats and chicken, to support households. However, the beneficiaries later said the chicken they were given was sick and infected and led to the death of their other fowls. This, locals said, was what prompted the SPLA-IO troops to detain the organization’s vehicle.
The Western Bahr el Ghazal State deputy chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, Pasquale Wana Achak, told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday morning that his boss led a delegation to go and sort out the matter.
“The Islamic Relief came to us and said that the chicken they took to Baggari all died and also killed other chicken there,” he said. “When we received the complaints, the state RRC chairperson called all the organizations and met with them before they left for Baggari. The delegation included CTSAMVM and UNMISS and they have gone to solve the problem that happened there.”
“According to their statement over the radio, we heard that there is a 48-year-old woman who ate the chicken and also died,” he added.
Wana said the role of the RRC is to coordinate all the activities of the humanitarian organizations and resolve any problems related to them. He urged the affected communities to remain calm.
“My message to the people there is that let them remain calm and wait for a solution because that is why the leaders traveled there,” he said. “I also call on the Islamic Relief Organization not to always work alone. Let them keep our office informed such that there is a member from the RRC office in their team.”