By James Innocent
The national minister of agriculture and food security has applauded the important roles played by churches in rendering services to the people of this country.
Minister Josephine Joseph Lagu made the remarks during a visit of the catholic bishop of Yei to the South Sudan safety net project in the area.
“As we know in South Sudan the churches are very important institutions and, in some cases, where the government does not reach where the government is not present and weak the churches always step in and provide leadership and social care to the society,” she said.
The minister of agriculture visited Yei River County to assess government project known as south ‘Sudan safety net project’ which is a national project funded by World Bank and implemented by UNOPS and to be implemented in ten counties.
Meanwhile, Bishop of the catholic diocese of Yei commended the project saying it will serve the people of Yei though others are in still camps of Uganda and Congo as well as internally displaced people without properties.
“Am grateful for your presence here in Yei as you’re rightly put it and it’s all our collective responsibility to save our people who are undergoing allot of challenges in this country given that almost eighty percent of the population are living in the refugee camp in the neighboring country especially in Congo and Uganda and others are displaced within towns that your trying to respond to their needs and there others who are living in the bushes due to bad roads in their own localities and facing difficulties to assess town felling as if they are neglected in the society because nobody seem to be listening to them,” he said.
He said that it is a good step the leadership has taken toward the assessment done by UNOPS World Bank including the national Ministry for expanding the services to rural areas. “So you’re coming to supervises to see inspect is a good step of leadership that we are not just living things to just go as the way they want but you want see the way how our citizens want and I want thank the world bank for saying that they will extend this services to the rest of the areas in Yei so that all the people are served equality as I prepare also to visit all my people who are in other parts of the society as a bishop and extend visit to all the displaced people and those ones living in towns bushes camps in the neighboring countries as listen to them as a leader we have the obligation to meet them as leaders,” he stated.