Friday, 27 January 2012

Written by John Actually

BOR - South Sudan Council of States meeting in Bor, Jonglei today to discuss the insecurity in the state has called for immediate ceasefire among feuding tribes in the state.

The speaker of the Council, Joseph Bol Chan, said they had come to Bor to encourage the state government to do more in order to normalize the situation.

Over 4,000 people have reportedly been killed and many children abducted in a cycle of tribal violence among the Lou Nuer, Murle and Bor Dinka since June last year.

In his speech before the council, Jonglei governor Kuol Manyang said Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) troops and police are deployed around Pibor and other counties that experienced insecurity.

Manyang told the meeting that chiefs in Akobo and Pibor which he visited last week are calling for immediate disarmament to remove “evil arms in the hands of civilians”.

Manyang appealed to the council to give pressure to the South Sudan government to increase the number of security forces in the state, disarm the people during this dry season, avail food to the affected people and to allocate some funds for the construction of roads in the state.

Earlier this month, South Sudan government declared Jonglei a disaster area and called for immediate humanitarian aid to the affected counties.

UN estimates that about 120,000 people have been affected by recent clashes in Pibor, Uror and Duk counties.

Members of the councils of states accused Jonglei politicians and intellectuals of inciting communal violence.

Friday, 27 January 2012

Written by Benjamin Majok

RUMBEK - The Minister of Education, Science and Technology of Lakes state has called on government to immediately put in place laws that will protect girls in school.

Daniel Ayual Makoi, who is also the deputy governor, said that there is a need for the state government to enact laws that will deter early and forced marriages, and to punish those who impregnate schoolgirls.

Ayual accused unnamed senior government officials of impregnating school girls. 

He cited lack of education laws in the state as a major loophole that encourage teachers to turn on the schoolgirls as their wives and impregnate them in school.

“Teachers and other members of the community in the state are impregnating majority of girls in schools but they are not punished by law. This act has discouraged the parents to send girls to school,” Ayual noted.

The minister further observed that, “Our culture does not consider education for girls as important in the society.”

“We must make sure that the state government has to put in place mechanisms to put to an end to all forms of obstacles that prevent the development of girls’ education in the state,” he stressed.

Ayual reasoned that parents are discouraged to send their daughters to school for fear that they will be impregnated by the teachers

 He said that over 70% of girls in Lakes State are in cattle camps and villages without attending schools.

“This is because parents fear their daughters will be impregnated and they lose wealth,” he reasoned.

The minister made the remarks early this week before leaving for Juba for ministers of education workshop.

 “I will present challenges facing girl education in the state to the national ministry of education for intervention,” Ayual promised.

Early this year, the Lakes State director general of education, science and technology Kongor Deng Kongor announced that his ministry had dismissed three teachers from the teaching profession for impregnating school girls in the state.

One of those dismissed was a head teacher in Awerial county.

Kongor said that it is an abuse for a teacher to impregnate a school girl, adding that it is against teaching ethics and the teachers’ code of conduct.

Friday, 27 January 2012

Written by Hou Akot

AWEIL - Eleven health workers of the Ministry of health of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State are to attend further training at Yei and Maridi health training institutes in Central and Western Equatoria states respectively. 

This is the second batch of health workers from the state to be sent for the training in these institutes with the aim of improving health services delivery and prevent death.

The state director general in the Ministry of health, Dr. Edward Ayuong said on Wednesday that the new batch will receive training in midwifery, nursing, laboratory technology and clinical management.

Ayuong said the selection for the training, that starts in February, was done by a panel from the national ministry of health in Juba. 

He called for recruitment of more health personnel to work in the primary health centres in the states.

"In Northern Bahr el Ghazal alone, there is only one trained midwife; just only that! And if you move across the country to see how many are trained on midwifery you may get about seven or eight in the whole of South Sudan,” Ayuong lamented.

The director general said this training will help in improving the health indicators in the country like maternal mortality which is the worst in the world at 2054 deaths for every 100,000 live births.

Ayuong said that the state ministry of health has built six new health centres in Maper-Akot-Aru village of Aweil town, Alok of Aweil Centre county, Amothic of Aweil North, but all lack workers.

He added that the nursing school at Aweil civil hospital is closed because of lack of trained staff and funds for restructuring the centre.

“We have cried a lot so many times, that we have facilities that we built and they are not opened, but we don’t know when the government is coming to open them,” he wondered.

“One of them is here at Maper-Akot-Aru, it is a very nice place in Aweil, but they are not opened, and the reason we can’t do it is that we cannot employ. We don’t know when they will be able to employ,” he added.

Ayuong reasoned that if Maper-Akot-Aru was opened, it would support Aweil Civil Hospital in delivering health services.

He appealed to government to recruit qualified medics to work in most of the health centres across the country.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Written by Ariik Atekdit

MALAKAL - The Apostolic Administrator of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malakal has advised youth to work for peace in the new country instead of engaging in destructive politics.

Musa Roko said youth are strong and effective members that can make peaceful co-existence possible in South Sudan.

“The role of youth in the national politics in the country should be for the development of peace and the common good of all the different tribes living in the new nation,” Roko said.   

He prayed for the youth of Malakal to love peace and to love each other as true children of God.

He asked youth to recognize themselves as people of one nation regardless of their tribes, religion, culture, and tradition.

Roko underscored the role of youth in Malakal and in South Sudan as a whole in fighting tribalism.

“It is shameful when you find our youths of South Sudan supporting tribalism. They should join the church in the nation-building,” Roko advised.

He added that; “Youth are entitled to use wisdom when playing politics so that it doesn’t bring bad effect among the communities.”

Roko cautioned youths against being used by politicians who want to benefit from bad and destructive politics, and advised them to avoid political practices that lead them to commit crimes and destroys them in the eyes of the community.

 “As people of God in one country, we should avoid ways that lead us to danger but rather choose paths that lead us to safety,” he said.

Roko appealed to the youth to turn back to the church because they have a better future in it

As Apostolic Administrator, Roko heads Malakal diocese which comprises of three states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei.