Leer community IDPS in Juba demand their politicians leave Kiir government

The Dok Community Association in the UNMISS protection camp in Juba have written an open letter demanding that their sons who are part of the Salva Kiir administration surrender their posts and join the SPLM-IO led by Riek Machar, or else leave politics altogether.

The Dok Community Association in the UNMISS protection camp in Juba have written an open letter demanding that their sons who are part of the Salva Kiir administration surrender their posts and join the SPLM-IO led by Riek Machar, or else leave politics altogether.

The community says that none of their leaders should be part of a government that has committed unforgettable crime such as castrating of boys, raping girls and suffocating men in containers in Leer in 2015.

The Chairperson of the Dok Community Association in Juba PoC3, the largest camp in Juba, Lawrence Stephen Buom in a letter signed by his deputy and the secretary-general, says that those who are asked to leave the Kiir administration include:

  • Riaw Gatlit Gai, the Deputy Minister of Interior
  • Makuach Teny Yuok, former Minister of Youth and Sport in Juba
  • John Yak Jany, former advisor to Taban Deng when a state governor
  • Stephen Taker Riak, the governor of the so-called Southern Liech State
  • Wal Yach Gatkuoth, Minister of Infrastructure of Southern Liech
  • Franco Duoth Diu, Commissioner of Leer County

They also named several Dok generals serving in the SPLA including:

  • Brig. Peter Phar Jiek, battalion commander in Wau
  • Brig. Kuol Tap Gai, battalion commander in Wanyjok
  • Brig. Samuel Tet Machar who is currently deployed in Juba to mobilize Dok youth to join Taban Deng

The association says they are still collecting more names of those who work under President Salva Kiir’s administration and asked all of them to leave their posts.

They questioned why some Dok politicians are seeking to mobilize displaced citizens to leave the protection sites yet they cannot even protect the women and girls who were raped in front of them by the SPLA in July.

On the other hand, some politicians of the Dok community reject Riek Machar’s leadership and prefer the government of Salva Kiir. At an event last month in Juba, Makuach Teny Youk, one of the Dok members allied to Kiir and former youth minister, called on citizens not to empower Riek Machar.

He urged people to stay calm and see how the game will end. He was speaking at the funeral service for late John Yar Ley in Juba 5 July, two days before the fighting started at the presidential palace.

Photo: Juba PoC site (Flickr/ECHO)