Authorities in Maridi in Western Equatoria have appealed for youths who went to the bush to take up arms to return home, urging them to reintegrate with the community and lay down their arms.
A group of four young men who recently came back were welcomed by Maridi County Commissioner Ismail Fatalah Abdallah who said they should feel free in the community and start with their normal work they were doing before conflict broke out last year.
Speaking over the local community radio station, the commissioner further called on those who are still in hiding to come back as the rest did.
Authorities say a total of four men have already reported themselves. Among the youths who reported back home were a boda-boda man, a businessman and a driver who said they were kidnapped on Maridi-Yei road four months ago.
In interviews, the youths said they had not intended to go to the bush saying they were abducted. They claimed to have been welcomed well by the authorities without any harassment.
Western Equatoria is home to a number of militias and armed groups opposed to the Juba-based government of President Salva Kiir. Maridi was also the site of conflict between migrating pastoralists of the Dinka tribe, Kiir’s tribe, and native residents last year.
SPLM-IO, the main opposition in South Sudan, has said that the army stepped up attacks in Western Equatoria after the signing of a peace deal last August. JMEC, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, reported a spike in violence in the state in a brief to the African Union last week.
President Salva Kiir arrested the governor of Western Equatoria State Joseph Bakosoro before last Christmas and replaced him with three appointees, dividing the state into smaller units.
Government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth and other officials have described the armed groups in Western Equatoria as “robbers” and “criminals”, implying that they are not protected by the provisions of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. A meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Salva Kiir in December resolved to treat them a such, according to remarks by Makuei.
File photo: Maridi County Commissioner Ismail Fatalah Abdallah
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