Greater Pibor Administrative Area leader David Yau Yau says he intends to set up legal institutions to make sure rule of law prevails in the area.

“We discussed with the Justice Minister how a legal system can be established in the area so that everything can be done in a legal way,” the chief administrator of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) said after meeting Justice Minister Paulino Wanawilla on Wednesday.

Yau Yau noted criminal activities will be tackled in a legal way when the legal institutions are put in place in Pibor area. “Our concern is to address issues legally, we are not saying that the crimes will reduce in the area,” Yau Yau explained.

The PGAA chief administrator did not give further details about any type of criminal activities in the Pibor area.

For his part, Minister of Justice, Paulino Wanawilla said their meeting with David Yau Yau explored ways how to establish legal institutions in the area.

“Like any part of South Sudan, there should be the rule of law in the area. It means you should have the court that should be established by the judiciary, and there is also need to have a legal administration for prosecution and investigation. We need to have prisons to affect the rule of law. So that’s why he has come to us,” he said.

The South Sudanese minister promised to establish the legal administration in the semi-autonomous area. He advised the chief administrator to also approach the judiciary to set up the court and the National Ministry of Interior to provide police and other law enforcing personnel.

The minister pointed out that the legal institution will be established as soon as the procedures are completed with the judiciary and the ministry of interior. “It is just a matter of establishing it by an order from the Minister of Justice,” he continued.

However, he said, the legal administration operates jointly with other components of the rule of law institutions in South Sudan.

The peace agreement between President Kiir and the SSDM Cobra Faction of David Yau Yau has made Greater Pibor Area Administration largely autonomous from Jonglei State as an area annexed under the Presidency. It is no longer under the jurisdiction of law enforcement officers of Jonglei State.