By Bida Elly David
Civil Society Activist has rebuked South Sudan Government for allowing the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to encroach into the country and killed one SSPDF soldier and leaving two injured.
Speaking to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO) Edmund Yakani has urged the government to quickly explain reasons for UPDF’s invasion of South Sudan and why they had allowed them to establish their main bases beyond their jurisdiction.
“The government of South Sudan is completely quiet to explain to us the killing of SSPDF soldier during the clash between the two forces. Why South Sudan should allow the UPDF Soldiers to encroach our country and killed our own soldiers,’’ he said.
“UPDF soldiers have invaded Parajok Payam. They invaded our land and established two UPDF bases within Magwi County especially Parajok Payam and in the process, they have confronted themselves with the SSPDF where one SSPDF soldier was killed and two injured and our government is completely quiet to explain to us what is going on. They should truly explain to us,” the activist added.
At the same note, Yakani underscored that the exercise carried by UPDF was a dictation against the country with its leadership.
“I feel that what UPDF is doing is a real invasion of our land and a dictation against our sovereignty. Our government should clearly explain what is going on between South Sudan and Uganda where UPDF had to encroach, South Sudan and killed our own soldier in our own soil. What UPDF did was a total declaration of war against South Sudan,’’ Yakani echoed.
However, he also criticised the Ministry of Defence for having kept quiet over the incident and requested them to explain to best of their level.
“Ministry of Defence should point out exactly what has created such clash. Are we now being dictated by Uganda or UPDF? If this exercise was because of the claims raised by Ugandans that South Sudanese went to raid their cattle, there is a system. IGAD has a system called C1 stating that when any IGAD member does anything against any country, there is a criterion to meet your claims. If it is about the cattle IGAD has got a link with the Ministry of foreign affairs where a criterion is carried to return them back than UPDF coming to South Sudan to the level of confronting the national army,’’ he stated.
“The establishment of the two UPDF bases in South Sudan has no meaning and remains baseless and if it is through the government, we must also know why they were allowed to establish them,” he added.