A three-day civil-military relations dialogue concluded over the weekend in Morobo County in Central Equatoria State.
The forum which started last week brought together over 40 SSPDF soldiers and boma chiefs and aimed at restoring hope in the county that is still recovering from the 2016 crisis that engulfed the country.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, James Mugo, the UNMISS Civil Affairs Officer in the Yei field office, said the dialogue is one of the many initiatives to address civil-military relations and minimize suspicion between local chiefs and the army.
“This was among the initiatives that have been carried out in the area to address civil-military relations between the SSPDF local commanders, the boma chiefs and payam directors and the main aim is to minimize the threats and suspicion between the boma chiefs and the commanders,” he said. “The second point was to differentiate the roles of the chiefs and the commanders in addressing peace and security in the community. Lastly, it was to strengthen cohesion and engagement between the chiefs and the local SSPDF commanders at their security levels.”
For his part, Alex Taban, the paramount in Morobo County, called on the locals to build trust and strengthen communication channels so that fear and suspicion between the civilians and the army are eliminated.
“My message to the people is that we are now confident that we trust each other and if there is any problem, we have to share information and trust one another,” he urged. “We should not fear the army and the army should not fear us because in the past, during the conflict, people were fearful of each other and mistrust should be eliminated. We have to move and interact freely and have freedom of speech.”
Meanwhile, Brigadier General John Lual, the SSPDF Brigade Commander in the greater Yei area, said the flow of information from the local chiefs to the SSPDF leadership is important and can strengthen the relationship between the two entities.
“All the chiefs in the area and the payam directors are the people in the field and you should be the ones to give us information about what is happening and why,” he said.
UNMISS’ Mugo said the meeting resolved to set up security committees at payam and county levels that will meet regularly.
Morobo County was severely affected by the 2016 conflict which saw many civilians fleeing to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The conflict also led to fragile relations between the army and civilians characterized by a lack of trust.
The forum was organized by UNMISS and the Morobo County Local Government.