Mabor banks on agriculture to secure Lakes State
Lakes State governor, Rin Tueny Mabor, has appealed to the residents of Awerial County to prioritise farming to achieve food security.
The governor encouraged the civilians that after peace had been achieved; they should not wait to establish their sources of livelihood, with agriculture being the target.
“For almost seven months now, I have been back to reinforce the rule of law to provide justice here because the other parts of the state, including Awerial County, are peaceful. We want to engage our young people all over the state,” said the governor in a video clip shared by SSBC TV.
“We have security; we have peace, but then what next? That is development, and if you want to develop, you must be food-sufficient. So, I encourage our communities in Awerial County, in the Lakes State, that this year is a year for cultivation.”
He stressed that agriculture was compulsory for the people in his government to ensure that the people were healthy.
“Each and everyone must till the land such that by July, any family must be food secure. Because when you have food, you will be healthy, and when you are healthy, then you will sing well, and that is the real core of development. A hungry man is a hungry man, so, agriculture is our priority and, as a government, it is compulsory,” he concluded.
The Awerial County Commissioner, Simon Jok, said the governor’s visit would ensure that law and order are achieved in the county. He said that the county was peaceful after all sorts of crimes, including random killings and highway robberies.
Displaced people return
Last month, Lakes State Minister of Youth, Culture, and Sports, William Koji, confirmed that the people who were displaced by communal conflict in Lakes State had returned to their original homes.
“Many of them escaped from the state. Now that there is peace, most of them have returned to their normal villages,” he said.
“They have turned up in large numbers, and they have witnessed the current general situation in Rumbek and the entire villages.”
“The current situation has never been the same as before because by then the conflict in the state was very common. Now there is a peace that belongs to the people of Lakes State and all South Sudanese. These communities have been in conflict for the last 10 years, and it has not been easy,” he added.
The Press Secretary in the Office of the Governor, Mabor Deng, said that the state experienced a stylish Christmas celebration in December 2021.
“There are smiles on the faces of the people after a very long time of conflict.” While giving the Christmas message to the people, the Governor of Lake State, Rin Tueny Mabor, said that there is no violence or any forms of cattle raiding in the entire state,” said Mabor.
“We need people back to come and celebrate the New Year with us. We require the sons and daughters of this area to come and witness the current general situation.”
Lakes State had been peaceful since Governor Rin Tueny was appointed, with maximum security and voluntary disarmament.
In October 2021, the state police spokesperson, Elijah Mabor Makuac, said the patrol had been introduced in Rumbek for law and order to be restored and to prevent crimes.
