Commissioner: tribalism undermines south’s independence

David Marial Gumke, Rumbek East County Commissioner, said the new nation faces grave challenges to unravel ethnic divisions that have escalated into violent attacks and counter-attacks, costing more than 90 lives in the last 15 years.

Citing rebellions against the Juba government, widespread sectional fighting and inter-ethnic conflict, Gumke called for a strategy of peace and reconciliation for all of South Sudan.

Comment by Innocent Otira:                         The Ugliness of Tribalism

Unless we abandon tribalism and sectionalism in the country,” he said, we cannot build a peaceful nation.”

Addressing thousands who gathered for a ceremony to mark the official opening of the new commissioner’s office on 10 July, Gumke said exchanges of gunfire between cattle owners of Gony and Thiyic groups were threatening security and development in Lakes State.
 
We should all be united now and call ourselves South Sudanese,” he said, rather than emphasising differences between Nuer, Dinka, Shiliuk, Azande, Acholi and Bari groups. Only then can true stability prevail,” he added.

Chol Tong Mayay, Governor of Lakes State, speaking in Rumbek East.Lakes State Governor Chol Tong Mayay condemned recent widespread fighting and urged the public to open a new chapter of forgiveness in the country.

Education, he said, is the state’s first priority. The life skills and vocational training provided through the establishment of boarding schools can offer a sound alternative to violent clashes among youth.

In a bid to compensate for three generations who had no schooling during Sudan’s long civil war, investing in education can help today’s youth acquire knowledge that will translate to opportunities for jobs in the future, the governor stated.

Bringing the perpetrators of sectional fighting to justice, he added, is another priority.  

We are ready for peace and reconciliation,” said Mabor Deng, one of the youth attending the county ceremony.

In a provocative challenge to the government, he called on authorities to launch a comprehensive disarmament program involving the civil population across the country.

Pointing to a vicious circle of arms supply and demand, he said, The same government that urges the youth not to kill one another is selling us guns to kill ourselves.”

Watch the advocacy film ‘Control Guns’ produced by Xchange Perspectives.Guns had been collected seven times from us,” he went on, but still we bought them seven times from the same government that disarmed the youth.  

Is the government not supporting the cattle raids and conflict?” he asked.
 
Mabor Meen Wuol, Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement, said authorities are deceived when youth break their promises to stop attacking other groups that have already been disarmed.  
 
He admitted that the presence of weapons among youth was due to lack of comprehensive disarmament across South Sudan’s ten states. Meen warned organised forces not sell the bullets to youth.

Juba has repeatedly accused the Khartoum government for a continuous flow of arms and ammunition to southern rebel groups and civilians, a charge the north denies.