January 14th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan government employees are reportedly taking to Juba streets to protest in support of the controversial 32 states, government officials and civil servants in the capital told Nyamilepedia this afternoon.
South Sudan government and opposition groups are expected this week to find a settlement for the states impasse which has been a major setback in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement signed in September 2018.
Speaking to Nyamilepedia this morning, a government official who declined to be named said a meeting of the Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) has asked the public – most especially the government employees – to protest in support of the 32 states ahead of a meeting of the parties over the issue.
“The JCE have met in J1 yesterday and asked the public as well as government employees to take to the street to express support for the 32 states,” the government official said. “So, we expect protest this week.”
Another civil servant at the ministry of information told the Nyamilepedia from Juba that they have been asked to protest in support of the 32 states by the government adding that it has been made obligatory by the government to show up at the protest.
“We have been asked to do so. We don’t when but we have been told that it is compulsory to do so,” the civil servant at the ministry said. The ministry is headed by Michael Makuei Lueth, a hate speaker from the government of South Sudan who is sanctioned by the United States for incitement.
For his part, SPLM-IO deputy spokesman Manawa Peter Gatkuoth Gual said in a statement that the government was asking its employees to take to street to protest against any possible decision over the number and boundaries of states.
He said the main armed opposition group will regard the move as a clear jeopardy to the revitalized peace agreement the government and opposition groups signed in September 2018 to end the ongoing civil war.
“We consider this move as a clear undermining of the revitalized peace agreement and a confirmation of the statements of the presidential press secretary in which he said that Salva Kiir would not back down from 32 states,” Manawa was quoted by Sudan Tribune on Monday.
“The SPLM-IO considers this move as a desperate attempt to circumvent the decision of the Independent Boundaries Commission, which indicated that the majority supports returning to the 10 states because it faces a problem in the demarcation of borders between these states and districts,” he added.
