March 17th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – The main armed opposition movement, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by the country’s former First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon condemned the last week’s blocking of a UN team by South Sudan authorities in Yei river state.
Last week, a convoy of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) was denied entrance into Koyoki and Kupera counties in Central Equatoria’s Yei River state by South Sudanese authorities there.
In a statement, the spokesman for the SPLM-IO Governor of Yei River State, Wayi Godwill Edward, said the leadership of the main armed opposition in the Central Equatoria region condemns what he said was a regrettable incident.
“The leadership of SPLM/SPLA (IO) in Yei River State registers its disappointment over the reckless and condemnable action of Emmanuel Khamis, Commissioner of Kupera County of violently blocking access to UN OCHA-led assessment mission to Koyoki and Birigo in Lainya County on 06/03/2019,” he said.
“This action is in gross violation of the R-ARCSS and International Humanitarian Law,” he added, saying: “The leadership sends its deepest sympathies to the staff whose lives were threatened on gunpoint by Khamis in the process of executing their mandate of reaching out humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable people within the State.”
