Ambrose Riiny Thiik, head of the Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders on Sunday called on the two feuding communities of Aguok and Apuk in South Sudan’s Gogrial State to stop fighting and unite their ranks behind the state governor.
Dinka Council of Elders is not a group of traditional Dinka leaders but a group of mostly politicians who support President Salva Kiir. It claims to be working for the interest of the Dinka tribe in South Sudan.
In an interview with Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, Riiny emphasized the importance of unity between the two feuding communities in the state.
“Through the media and through this interview, I call upon all of you, the leaders of the two communities, Aguok and Apuk, to work together in unity so that at the end, we have what to show,” he said.
He thanked the state governor, Gregory Deng Kuac Aduol, for exhibiting leadership by remaining calm and continuing to appeal to the two sides to refrain from further violence.
“All of us have to move in the same direction of peace, dialogue and love. I thank the president for entrusting prominent leaders and statesmen with this responsibility of organising the national dialogue which is one of the best ways to addressing political issues and look forward to working with all of them to ensure the president fulfils his responsibility toward the country," he said.
The people of Aguok and Apuk, he said, should stop fighting and join the national dialogue as the only mechanism through which grievances at different levels can be identified and addressed.
The fresh inter-clan between the two Dinka rival groups began last week in Gogrial State, home to President Kiir, killing dozens of people from both sides.