Mundari peace conference concludes with 31 resolutions
The three-day Mundari Peace Conference ended on a high in Juba with 31 resolutions jotted down to end the conflict in Terekeka County.
The conference, which ended on Thursday, was organised by religious leaders as a church peace initiative to remedy the intercommunal violence in Terekeka County.
At its closure was the signing of a communiqué as a commitment by those who will be tasked with implementing resolutions, including the community leaders, politicians, bishops from the Catholic Church and Episcopal Church of South Sudan, and partners.
According to Archbishop Dr Paul Yugusuk of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, who headed the church leaders’ peace initiative, the delegates were able to formulate resolutions and proposals.
Bishop Yugusuk said the conference was able to formulate a plan of action that divided the responsibilities among stakeholders involved in the implementation of the resolutions.
The cleric said the plan of action outlines who is accountable for implementing which decisions, how, and when.
“The technical committee shall sit down together with the steering committee, the ministry of peacebuilding, the commissioner, some MPs, and the Mundari community. We shall sit among ourselves so that we can assign roles and responsibilities,” he said.
“The difference between this conference and the previous conferences is that there are responsibilities.” Where I am responsible, where the Mundari Community is responsible, and where the state government and the local authorities are responsible,” Bishop Yugusuk argued.
He urged the Mundari community to work together to execute the resolutions and recommendations by putting aside their differences.
Meanwhile, Bush Buse, a representative of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, said development partners and the government of Central Equatoria State spent about SSP 30 million last year for the Mundari community peace conference.
Buse urged the community to unite and accept peace so that the government, with the help of development partners, could invest the available resources in community development projects.
“Let’s stop conflict in Mundari so that if there [is] another fund like the SSP 30 million, let it be used for the construction of schools, health facilities, roads, and let’s talk about how we should help those who lost their dear ones in the conflict in Mundari, ” Buse appealed.
“This is what we want to do, so there are no more conferences,” he said.
Terekeka County Commissioner, James Lino Malou, urged the community to adopt the peace conference resolutions wholeheartedly and work hard for their implementation for peace to reign in the county.
“Let this peace be in our hearts as Mundari people, and we must put it into action so that we say no to strife and yes to peace starting now.”
On the other hand, Lino asked the Mundari neighbours in the state who may have been impacted by the Mundari violence, which resulted in displacement and the loss of loved ones in the crossfire, to forgive the community.
Apologies for past
He emphasised that the Mundari community will stand by their neighbours during these difficult times.
“If the Mundari have offended you, we, as representatives of the Mundari, would like to ask you to forgive us,” Buse pleaded.
The conference was attended by leaders from the neighbouring communities of Mundari in Central Equatoria State as observers.
In her closing remarks, Sarah Nene, the deputy Governor of Central Equatoria State, who spoke on behalf of Governor Emmanuel Adil urged the Mundari to accept peace so that the government could deliver the development projects to them.
She said the government had already approved a budget for the Tali-Tindelo road project, which will begin soon.
The deputy governor also urged partners who have helped the government to bring peace to the Mundari community to now focus their efforts on Terekeka County’s development.
“Don’t call us for conferences. It is enough. We don’t want more conferences again, and we don’t want more reconciliation. The community of Terekeka has reconciled now, meaning we need development in Terekeka”.
Nene urged Mundari women to be peace ambassadors in their homes, stressing that the men who are dying are their husbands and children.
She warned that if men failed to execute the conference recommendations, women would go on strike.
“We cannot give birth to the grave. We give birth to the development of society,” Nene said.
“I was not happy when my children were being killed, and I asked myself that it makes no sense to give birth to children who would be killed and buried like 12 in one grave or end up being eaten by vultures in the bush,” she said.
