Manawa was ‘stabbed at the back’ – Dr. Lam Akol

JUBA – South Sudan opposition leader Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin has said that late minister of water resources and irrigation Manawa Peter Gatkuoth was ‘stabbed at the back’ by the government after the presidency claimed that it was not aware of the dredging machines that arrived from Egypt when the council of ministers approved the dredging initiative in a meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir himself.

The decision by the government to dredge the river begun when a high-level government delegation led by Vice President for Economic Cluster James Wani Igga signed a number of protocols with Egyptian officials last year, and were approved by the council of ministers in a meeting in September 2021 chaired by President Kiir.

Manawa’s ministry in June announced the arrival of dredging machines from Egypt to Unity State via Sudan in preparation to the initiative to dredge Nam River, an important tributary of the Nile River, from weed and mud the civil population and the state government have blamed alike for devastating floods that have displaced tens of thousands of people, or 80 per cent of Unity State’s population.

But the presidency claimed in statements by President Kiir’s Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny that it has not approved the initiative and that the government has no knowledge as to if or who brought the dredging machines to Unity State, sparking controversy on social media as to why those sophisticated machines can make it into the country without the knowledge of the government.

In a statement marking South Sudan’s 11^th independence anniversary, Akol said late Manawa Gatkuoth was stabbed in the back after the presidency distanced itself from the initiative when that same initiative was approved by the council of ministers chaired by President Kiir Mayardit and lashed at them for coming out after Manawa’s death to defend the project.

“The government kept silent, except for the late Minister of Water Resources. He was however stabbed at the back when the Press Secretary in the office of the President gave a statement that the president did not know about the dredging and the Minister of the Environment not only denied knowledge of the project but called executing it ‘illegal,’” Akol said.

“When the defender of the project died the government stalwarts came out in his funeral prayers in force to defend the project passionately. They even disclosed that the decision to dredge the rivers was taken in a Council of Ministers meeting chaired by the President and read out the resolution number and date. It was quite conclusive. But why didn’t they come out from the beginning? And why were the ministers of the same government giving contradicting statements?” he questioned.

He said “Such an opaque way of running such a sensitive issue of public concern is unacceptable and is indicative that there is something being hidden from the public. This behaviour is reminiscent of how the same issue was handled in 1974 leading to wide spread demonstrations all over Southern Sudan.”

‘CLEARING, NOT DREDGING’

The prominent opposition leader further expressed his strong opposition to dredging of the rivers until when a credible and independent research is made on the project and said that he strongly supports opening up of rivers for navigation, saying the only thing the government should is not to dredge, but to clear water ways of blockages impeding navigation.

“The position of the NDM is that the dredging and any talk about the Jonglei Canal must be immediately suspended until a proper study is carried out in a transparent manner. However, we strongly advocate opening the waterways for navigation. River transport is the least expensive means of transport and our country is connected by a good network of interconnected rivers,” he said.

“If the objective is to open up river routes for transport this can be done by clearing, not dredging the rivers. It is clearing the river that has been going on since the Nile was opened up for navigation for the first time in 1840. It entails removing the grass and any other objects that might have blocked the river and rendered it non-navigable. Dredging digs into the river bed tens of metres deep. Its objective is to increase the volume of flow and this has dangerous consequences to the settlements downstream,” he added.