Upper Nile state intellectuals are gathering in Juba to organize a Peace and Reconciliation Conference in their state.
Speaking at an initial meeting Thursday, Joseph Bol Chan, speaker of National Council of States, said: “We think that it is time for us to improve our relations as communities because what is going there in Addis does not address the social peace among our people.”
He said the delegations at the Addis Ababa negotiations are talking politics, dividing people, and jockeying for positions.
Bol said the conference will be held in Paloch. He added the process will take time but that it is better to start now.
Upper Nile State Governor Simon Kun Puoc said that when some people are misusing the issues of the nation and state, others must speak the truth so that people will move forward.
He said issues of peace and reconciliation cannot be ignored even with one’s enemies “because peace is important for all of us.”
Kuath Kang, an elder of Upper Nile state, said: “We need to differentiate between politics and our problems that we are going to discuss. I am now going to 70 years and I didn’t hear that we in East [Upper Nile] fought with West or other parts.”