The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Yei is appealing to the Central Equatoria State government to restore peace and stability and promote reconciliation, healing, and peaceful co-existence among local communities in the area.
Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor spoke after meeting Governor Anthony Adil in Juba on Tuesday.
The clergyman pointed out that the relations between the army and civilians have to be restored.
“Let there be a cordial relation between the soldiers and the civilians because one experience I got in Yei is that the soldiers are seen as harassing civilians, and they don’t protect the civilians. The soldiers also see the civilians as enemies,” Bishop Lodiong said. “We also told the governor that the soldiers need to be treated well by giving them food, and they need to be disciplined so that the soldiers do not harass civilians so that our people in Uganda and DR Congo can return voluntarily without waiting for repatriation.”
He further urged the state government to rehabilitate social amenities such as hospitals, health units, schools, and boreholes destroyed during the years of conflict to improve the living conditions of both urban and rural communities.
“For our people to come back from the camp, the ground has to be made very attractive by rehabilitating service centres like schools and health centres so that they can come home, and our children can return to school. Our appeal is that let the peace continue to be implemented well,” he added.
For his part, Derick Derrickson, the governor’s press secretary, said the governor appealed to the church leaders to promote dialogue and engage the rebel holdout group there to join the Rome Peace initiative.
“The governor also urged the church leaders to work together in expediating the Rome peace initiative by engaging the opposing parties to join hands in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, and the governor has also pledged the government’s readiness to work with the church in the area and assure security in areas experiencing insecurity and assures of security stability as the local authorities are doing what it takes to stabilize the situation,” he said.
Derick further said the state government’s main agenda is to prioritize security stabilization, peacebuilding, and service delivery and to enhance the peaceful co-existence of the local population.