Don’t accept to serve ‘vested interests’ – Mabior Garang tells citizens on calls for popular uprising

JUBA — A group led by South Sudan’s former minister of water resources and irrigation and senior member of the SPLM-IO Mabior Garang De Mabior has expressed a strong disapproval for ongoing calls for a popular uprising against President Salva Kiir Mayardit urging citizens to be vigilant against serving ‘vested interests’.

This comes days after the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA) wrote to the minister of interior asked for protection of protesters who he said plan to take to the streets on August 30 to call for end to President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s decade-long rule.

In a statement extended to Sudans Post, the National Conversation South Sudan (NCSS), a civil society organization led by Mabior, said it is against the popular uprising against the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

“The Board of Trustees and the Moderators of the National Conversation South Sudan (NCSS) would like to unequivocally add our voice by rejecting the call for regime change through a popular uprising by the People’s Coalition for Civil Action and repeated by various civil society groups,”the statement extended to Sudans Post reads in part.

“It is the contention of the NCSS that, while peaceful protests are the right of any group or individual, the citizens of the Republic of South Sudan have neither the level of political awareness nor the socio-economic development to carry out peaceful protests,” it added.

The group said the time is not right given lack of political awareness among the people of South Sudan coupling with the existence of a government will to use force against unarmed civilians.

“The National Conversation South Sudan would like to inform its members, our civil population, and the public at-large that this is not the correct action considering the objective realities of our land,” the statement said.

“At a time when the country is being run by a ‘Unity Government’ composed of conflicting political parties and ideologies with intent to rule the same country, the NCSS is concerned that the unscrupulous power elite with vested interests may take advantage of this opportunity to capture the state. This can only have a negative impact on an already precarious situation in our nascent Republic,” it added.

It then said “The fact that the matrix for implementation of theRevitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) is about to elapse and without any re-commitment or negotiated extension, civil disobedience by a civil population which lacks political awareness would be a recipe for disaster.”

“The NCSS will not promote political violence for other people’s children to die in. We believe the real uprising is one of consciousness and that can only be achieved through political education,” it added.

The group then urged the people of South Sudan to avoid being used for what it calls vested interests.

“The National Conversation South Sudan recognizes the harsh economic realities in our country thus, any poorly planned action may motivate the peaceful demonstrators to turn into looters of private and public entities and the demonstration would lose its initially intended revolutionary direction,” it said.

“The National Conversation South Sudan further advise the citizens of the Republic of South Sudan to be vigilant not to be used to serve vested interests,” it added.

“It is ill-advised to advocate for a regime change that would not be sustainable due to lack of indigenous participation and lack of political awareness of the civil population of the Republic of South Sudan.

“The National Conversation South Sudan remains seized to support the implementation of the R-ARCSS to create space for civil society and a peaceful transition of power. This is guaranteed through elections, in the Revitalized Accord.

“The NCSS remains seized and is fully committed to preserving the unity of the peoples of the Republic of South Sudan under the R-ARCSS implementation.”