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RUMBEK - 7 Jun 2020

Rumbek school fight not related to GESS cash transfers: police

File photo: Rumbek Secondary School students celebrating the reopening of the school after it was closed for 5 months. Jan. 9, 2012. (ST)
File photo: Rumbek Secondary School students celebrating the reopening of the school after it was closed for 5 months. Jan. 9, 2012. (ST)

Investigations into a fight at Rumbek Girls Primary School last week showed no signs of connection with the GESS Cash Transfers, police said.

Three girls were reported injured and 14 others arrested after a fight broke out between pupils at Rumbek Girls Primary School in the town of Rumbek last Wednesday.

Brigadier General Majak Alapayo Ador, Chief Inspector of Police in Rumbek Centre County, told Radio Tamazuj Friday police investigations reveal that the cause of the fighting at Rumbek Girls Primary School was not the GESS Cash Transfers.

Majak’s statement appears to contradict claims that the cause of the fighting at the school was the issue of Cash Transfers.

On May 31, Majak said police managed to control a fight over the GESS Cash Transfers at Rumbek Girls Primary School.

"The fighting was not an incident related to the Cash Transfers. According to police investigations, the girls fought during a jump rope competition,” said Majak.

He added,” During the jump rope competition, some girls were defeated and that’s why a fight broke out between the two groups.”

The Cash Transfers initiative is part of the Girls Education in South Sudan (GESS) program, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom.

The program aims to transform a generation of South Sudanese girls by increasing access to quality education through providing money to the girls to buy scholastic materials.