An open letter to the governor of Jonglei State, Denay Jock Chagor

By Bol Deng Bol, 

Sep 13, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — I would like to first and foremost, appreciate your Excellency for having confidently shouldered the responsibility of governing Jonglei State. Having gone through so much devastation and suffering, brought about by the deplorable civil wars and perpetual inter-communal violence, Jonglei State require a robust ‘recovery and development plans’ in order to rejuvenate its fundamental sectors, rebuild social-fabric and inculcate the essence of nationhood in the state and beyond. On a similar note, the recent cooperation agreement on energy and road network between the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of South Sudan will provide security and economic benefits not only to the state but also to the Country at large, if implemented in the same spirit it was initialed. His Excellency, your prime role in this agreement, gives hope to the people of Jonglei State. Please, ensure this project do not ‘go wrong’ like other multinational accords. 

Your efforts in bringing about peace in the Greater Jonglei must not go unnoticed, nonetheless, to achieve this overarching goal, inclusivity and consistency must be upheld at all cost, for this will differentiate the current peace initiative under your administration and the past initiatives. His Excellency, even as I appreciate your commitments in this cause, I beg to suggest that you continue working closely with your counterpart in Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) to champion a peaceful Jonglei State (JS) while incorporating the following ‘essential five’:

1. Convene an interstate peace dialogue to mend relations between Jonglei State (JS) and Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA); dialogues amongst Chiefs of JS, Youths of JS, dialogues between Chiefs of JS and their GPAA counterparts, and dialogues between Youths of JS and their GPAA counterparts. With support from United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and other partners, including the Civil Society, these dialogues can evolve into nonviolent approaches to the conflicts in Greater Jonglei, hence a lasting peace. 

2. Co-constitute a Joint-Police: Alongside the Chief Administrator of GPAA, form this committee and get them deployed at chosen buffer-zones to regularly monitor and apprehend Perpetrators of cross-border crimes, this committee can operate under agreed-upon mandate and principles to restore equanimity. 

3. Restore Anyidi market in Jonglei State: this common market saw GPAA businessmen bought and sold cattle and other commodities in Jonglei state before it was closed in April 2020 due to insecurity menace. Kindly, get this market reopened and create others in Gadiang and other strategic areas.  

4. Renovate the dilapidated roads and construct new road networks linking the nine counties of the state to ease transportation and humanitarian services. 

5. Establish a robust bilateral relationship between Bor and Pibor, through frequent high-level visits and interstate youth forums. Also, ensure that the same spirit of the “essential five) is reciprocated in GPAA authorities. 

In addition to peace and security, ascertain and start implementing a long-term flood remedy to ensure such a catastrophe is bloated amongst Jonglei seasonal worries. 

Even as I conclude my appeal in this open letter, His Excellency, it is vividly clear, that the wide-spread youth redundancy has helped amplify crimes and further polarized the communities. To correct this cancerous error, your leadership should consider maximizing youth engagement while exemplifying the missing political pluralism in the state as enshrined in the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 (as amended 2015) which in fact, is the implicit essence in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). 

Thank you for your time!

The author, Bol Deng Bol, is a concerned South Sudanese. He can be reached through his email at boldeng2013@gmail.com.

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