Abyei Administrative Area declare Friday public holiday

The leadership of Abyei Special Administrative Area (ASAA) will allow civils time off next Friday to attend to their farms.

This is after the day, June 10 was declared a public holiday.

The holiday, however, will not affect services at the hospitals, schools and private sectors.

“The Abyei Administrative Area’s Secretariat General is hereby informing all the Area Administrations institutions, departments, counties, commissions and other government organs as well as all UN Agencies, NGOs agencies and the public at large that, every Friday in a week shall be observed as an Agricultural Day Public Holiday in the area, effective from Friday 10th June 2022 and shall end on Friday 26th August 2022 and the official work resumes on Friday 2nd September 2022,” said ASAA Secretary General, Ring Deng Kuol in a letter seen by City Review.

The ASAA is the second region after Lakes State to declare Fridays as a public holiday for locals till to the farms.

Abyei had been facing threats of attacks from neighboring states and the Misseriya nomads, deterring economic activities.

Demonstrations

Late last month, Abyei residents and civil society organizations took to the streets calling for demilitarization of Abyei Special Administrative Area.

The Information Secretary of Abyei Civil Society Organizations, Mayen Ayuong, disclosed to City Review that they wanted the international community and UN Security Council to urge governments Sudan and South Sudan to determine the final status of Abyei.

“We urge the international community and the UN Security Council to put pressure on the government of Sudan and South Sudan, to sit down and find a solution instead of creating more conflicts in Abyei.”

“We are calling for the demilitarization of Abyei. We don’t need any existence of the armed forces. We are calling for the relocation of SSPDF and police forces.

Last month, the traditional leaders of Abyei and Misseriya signed a peace deal in Entebbe, Uganda, but left out issues related to the status of Abyei including eligibility of voters and land demarcation, among others.

Abyei was suppose to go to the referendum immediately after South Sudan’s secession from Sudan. In 2013, however, the people of Abyei voted overwhelmingly to secede from Sudan and join South Sudan, but the vote was dispute by the two countries.