The spokesman of the now “defunct” Greater Pibor Area Administration (GPAA) has downplayed reports of military preparations by the SSDF Cobra Faction following the effective dismissal of their leader David Yau Yau from the leadership of the area.
SSDF Cobra Faction has been ruling the area under the terms of a 2013 peace deal that made their leader David Yau Yau the GPAA Chief Administrator, a position equivalent to that of a state governor, according to protocol. The area was given a special legal status autonomous from Jonglei State to which it had previously belonged.
Yau Yau’s status suddenly changed last week when President Salva Kiir appointed another Murle politician, Jonglei Deputy Governor Baba Medan as governor of the newly declared “Boma State,” covering the same territory as the GPAA.
Though Kiir has not issued any decree formally dissolving the Greater Pibor Administration, a top presidential aide yesterday clarified to Radio Tamazuj that this was indeed the intent of the Christmas order appointing Baba Medan.
Speaking from Pibor by phone, Sam David, the spokesman of the former Pibor Administration, responded to the new order saying citizens of the Pibor Area are disappointed by Kiir’s decree, but he downplayed reports of deployment of military equipment in Pibor by Cobra Faction soldiers
“The local people who are murmuring and talking ill of the new governor, right now they have left the town for the far villages around Pibor, but hopefully things will be okay soon,” said Sam.
The former GPAA spokesman pointed out that communities in other states had been consulted on which governor to appoint for their area, but not Pibor.
“Yau Yau as the former governor of Bama State has no problem… he wants peace in Greater Pibor or Boma State… but in all of the seven counties that we have the citizens are wondering why Yau Yau was removed and another person was brought who has been staying in Bor,” he said.
Separately, a leaked UN situation report says that peacekeepers on patrol in Pibor on Wednesday observed “huge presence of Cobra Faction militia in Pibor town and posted at every strategic location around Pibor.”
The peacekeepers also reported that “shops are closed with less civilian population in town” and that Cobra soldiers were entrenching and placing mortars and ammunition boxes close to their headquarters near the former UNMISS water point in Pibor town.
On Tuesday evening, the previous day, sporadic gunfire was heard about 600 meters north of the UN’s Pibor compound and during the night about 15-20 armed SPLA soldiers positioned themselves outside the UNMISS Pibor perimeter, according to the report.
Indian peacekeepers in the town were on “high alert” but there were no reports of hostilities yet, says the UN situation report.
The South Sudanese national army SPLA has a contingent based in Pibor but they are outnumbered by the Cobra Faction, which recruits primarily from the Murle community that inhabits the area. Sam David, the former GPAA spokesman, told Radio Tamazuj yesterday that it is normal for soldiers to keep themselves prepared and this is not a sign of any impending violence. He called on all citizens to respect the new changes and for all factions to live in calm and peace including SPLA and Cobra Faction.
“Yau Yau does not have any problem with Baba Medan, he is just staying in Pibor as before,” Sam added. However, a former advisor to Yau Yau reported that he had left Pibor town itself and gone to Gumuruk, accompanied by some of his fighters, chiefs and youths, to consult with supporters.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Governor Baba Medan has denied a rumor that Cobra Faction loyalists killed his father following the announcement of his appointment instead of Yau Yau. SBS Dinka service reports that the Boma State governor’s father died in 1974.
The newly appointed governor is not yet reported to have arrived in Pibor. He has been based in Bor and was seen at the inauguration events in Juba this week.
Presidential envoy: Deal with Cobra Faction was only means to end
The South Sudanese presidential envoy on Pibor affairs has defended the decision by Kiir to dissolve the Greater Pibor Area Administration and replace it with a new ‘Boma State’, pointing out that Yau Yau’s own earlier rebellion had demanded for the creation of a state independent from Jonglei – a demand that has now been fulfilled.
Akot Lual Areech, who was one of the lead negotiators with Yau Yau’s faction and also served as Kiir’s personal secretary, said in an interview Thursday that Kiir had consulted Yau Yau before dissolving all institutions in the GPAA and replacing Yau Yau with Baba Medan as Boma State governor.
“The people of greater Pibor were demanding a creation of a state of their own and this has been fulfilled. They now have a state of their own,” said Akot. “The agreement which the government signed with Cobra Faction was a means to achieving the vision of a new state. It was what people wanted and they have gotten it.”
Akot was responding to a question about whether the appointment of someone not from the Cobra Faction as leader of the Greater Pibor Area was a violation of the peace agreement.
Akot elaborated, “The question of who should be the leader has been answered by the people of Greater Pibor already. They made their nomination and the president acted in accordance with the desire of the people.”
The presidential aide asserted that activities which would encourage instability in the area would not be in the interest of the people of Greater Pibor, predicting that such activities would not gain popular support.
“I don’t think the people will support any activity that will undermine peace and recovery. Such activities will not be in the interest of the people of greater Pibor, who now need peace and recovery programs. They want to rebuild their livelihoods from the experience of the past conflict,” he said.
File photo: GPAA Chief Administrator David Yau Yau (right)