By Yiep Joseph
Central Equatoria State Governor Augustino Jadalla Kamilo has urged county commissioners to work closely with security coordinators to address the persistent insecurity troubling the state.
He made the call during the opening of the Commissioners’ and Mayor’s Forum on Wednesday.
The three-day forum, supported by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), convened local government officials from across the state to discuss issues including social cohesion, conflict mitigation, peacebuilding, and service delivery.
Representatives from each of the five counties – Lainya, Juba, Kajo-Keji, Terekeka, and Yei River – as well as the Wonduruba Administrative Area, are participating. The forum also includes mayors, state advisors, and partner organizations.
Insecurity is a primary focus of the discussions, as many areas of Central Equatoria continue to experience instability.
Governor Jadalla emphasized the need for collaboration between county commissioners and security coordinators to ensure peace and stability for residents.
“I would like to direct that the county commissioners who hand in hand with the security coordinators there should have cooperation between the two in the counties,” he said.
“I would want to inform the commissioners in this forum that the county coordinators are the civil-military relation officers in the counties; they should act as a bridge between the military and the civil population,” he added.
Governor Jadalla called the commissioners in particular and the citizens of the state to focus on homemade solutions to misunderstanding, which is through dialogue.
“We should continue to cultivate and maintain the spirit of grassroots engagement, such as dialogue with sons and daughters of the state who have taken arms against the government,” he said.
“We need to provide homegrown solutions and have addressed some of the conflict at the grassroots level,” he added.
Although the National Salvation Front (NAS) leader participated in the Rome Initiative mediated by the Community Sant’Egidio and signed the Rome Declaration to stop hostilities and ceasefire, Cirilo has stayed away from the Nairobi-led peace talks dubbed the Tumaini Initiative.