By Tereza Jeremiah Chuei
The President of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni urged South Sudanese to concentrate on looking at their interest and not their identity saying “we the progressive forces, we say look at the interest of the people not the identity”.
The Ugandan President spoke during the graduation of the first batch of the unified forces in Juba on Tuesday.
He questioned the South Sudanese if there is Bari hunger or Dinka hunger, citing that hunger is hunger, which hurts all the people.
“We don’t care what tribe you are, what region you are, but you find the interest of the people are the same, ‘if it’s Bari hunger or Dinka hunger you tell me! what I know is hunger is hunger, flood is flood, disease is disease’, we the progressive force, we say look at the interest of the people not the identity,” he said.
“When I visited Sudan, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan taught me a word in Arabic ‘Awieyah’ (Identity) when you go according to identity, you are lost, you will not manage, we the progressive forces in Africa we never emphasize identity, we emphasize interest, ….what are the interests of people..” he revealed.
Meanwhile, the Representative of the UN Secretary General in South Sudan Nicholas Haysom also weighed in saying the Necessary Unified Forces (NUP) symbolized the National Identity for South Sudan, not regional or tribal mechanism.
“This first Unified Defense Forces is one of the most visible and meaningful expression of National Unity, especially in Societies emerging from conflict, and its diverse representation symbolizes National Identity of South Sudan not a Regional or tribe mechanism but would not be merely important symbol, it will be an active contributor to national peace,” he said.