Yakani ‘disturbed’ by developing political crisis in Western Equatoria

JUBA – Prominent activist Edmund Yakani has expressed concerns over developing political crisis in Western Equatoria State after the SPLM-IG, SSOA, OPP and FDs announced their withdrawal from the state government over what they call ‘incompetent’ leadership of Governor Alfred Futuyo.

On Saturday evening, senior state government officials from the four political groups who are signatories to the revitalized peace agreement said during a press conference in Yambio that they have suspended their participation in the state government until when the national government in Juba intervene to address their grievances.

The group led by the deputy Governor of Western Equatoria Kennedy Ganiko of the SPLM-IG accused the governor of corruption and violation of the revitalized peace agreement as they alleged that the governor has suspended council of ministers meeting indefinitely.

When contacted by Sudans Post over the developments, Yakani who is the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) called for “constructive and productive dialogue” between the parties in order to resolve grievances, describing the evolving situation as disturbing development.

“CEPO takes this opportunity to call for the political leadership of Western Equatoria state to resolved their political grievances through constructive and productive dialogue than suspension of the function of the government. The spirit of the R-ARCSS of consultations and consensus should be embraced in handling any merging political challenge,” Yakani told Sudans Post.

“The ongoing political development in Western Equatoria State is a negative and a disturbing situation as from the spirit of transitioning the society from violence to peace through the implementation of the R-ARCSS,” Yakani added.

The prominent and outspoken activist further stressed the need to immediately bring the situation to arrest, saying if not resolved, the disagreement could have negative impact on the lives of the civil population in the fragile state which has recently seen killing, looting and displacement of thousands of civilians.

“The state government political frictions have immediate serious impact on the civilians. The political leadership of the state governments should really take responsibility of resolving their political differences in a non-violent manner without collapsing the daily function of the government,” Yakani stressed.

“CEPO is urging the national government through council of states to urgently send delegation to Yambio to investigate and resolve the merging political frictions among the leadership of the state,” he added.