The Ngok Dinka community of Abyei in Juba on Saturday marked the anniversary of the killing of Sultan Kuol Deng Kuol, nicknamed Kuol Adol, who was shot dead by Misseriya gunmen while traveling in a UNISFA convoy in northern Abyei just over a year ago.
The event was marked by speeches and music at Freedom Hall in Juba.
Speakers demanded to have findings from an investigation committee set up after the ‘assassination’ of the late sultan Kuol Adol-Kuol Deng Kuol. He was killed during a standoff between UNISFA troops and Misseriya herders in the disputed region, which lies between Sudan and South Sudan.
A joint investigation committee established in nearly a year ago never came out with any public findings.
Some Ngok Dinka leaders have used the killing as a pretext to try to obstruct migration of the Missiriya pastoralists into the area, saying they should be held accountable for the killing.
Speaking on Saturday, the successor of the slain chief, Bulabak Kuol Deng, told the gathering that the late sultan is no longer physically with the people but he is ‘alive in their hearts and minds’.
Bulabak revealed that he had recently met with the South Sudanese president about the pending investigation of the death of Sultan Kuol Deng, as well as the Ngok Dinka community’s demand for recognition of the unilateral referendum they held last October.
The president told him that “it is a matter of time” before the issues are resolved, according to Bulabek.
He called on those with influence in the South Sudanese government to keep reminding the president about the right time to accept the Abyei referendum outcome.
In another speech on the occasion, former Warrap state governor Anei Kuendit suggested that a peace centre should be built in honour of the slain chief, whom he described as a “man of peace.”
Deng Macham, the head of the South Sudan council of chiefs, suggested that the UN should sued in the international court of justice for ‘disarming the Abyei people’ and failing to protect them against external aggression, pointing out that the late chief died while under UN protection.
The national minister of agriculture Beda Machar, who represented the president on the occasion, said the president was committed to resolving the Abyei issue, but that the country is undergoing difficult times, distracting from the matter.
Among the attendees also were the chairman of South Sudan Civil Society Alliance Deng Athuai, national MPs, eight chiefs of the other Ngok Dinka chiefdoms, musicians, and also Lam Akol Ajawin, the chairman of opposition party SPLM-DC, though he is not from the Abyei region.
Related coverage:
Analysis: A chief’s death (14 May 2013)
Exclusive: Last interviews with Abyei chief (8 May 2013)