‘When did the public demand 32 states?’ – James Gatdet
James Gatdet Dak, former press secretary for the opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar Teny (Photo: Gatdet)
Feb 6th, 2020 (SSNN)—James Gatdet Dak, a prominent member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-IO, and former press secretary for South Sudan’s main opposition faction, has criticized the government for using the controversial 32 states as an instrument to score more political points.
32 states not a public demand!
“I have been hearing or reading an unfounded argument from Juba that the mini suffering 32 states were decreed per a public demand.This is not true! When did the public demand 32 states?,” Gatdet questioned.
He argued that the current peace agreement was signed on the basis of 10 states, but the president made a unilateral decision and created 32 states on his own without conducting any consultations with other peace partners or members of the public.
“On August 26, 2015, President Salva Kiir signed a peace deal with the opposition parties on the basis of 10 inherited states. He refused the 21 states proposed by the SPLM/SPLA(IO), which were derived from the colonial districts which had boundaries. He said the country was not ready for more than the 10 states…However, in less than two months later in October 2015, he unilaterally created 28, then 32 states by a decree. No public was consulted. Everybody, with the exception of the small elite that devised the scheme, was caught by surprise. So, when did it become a public demand?.”
He pointed out that the report released by the Independent Boundaries Commission (IBC) suggested that the public demand the country’s revert to the 10 states, but due to the government’s political interest, the results of the IBC report were never made public.
“Again, the report released by the Independent Boundaries Commission (IBC), has clearly indicated that the majority of the people of South Sudan want the country to return to the 10 states. And this is the public!
So, the elite that concocted the 32 states for whatever reasons: be it land grabbing; be it creation of political positions for accommodation, etc., should not hide behind the public…No public was consulted when these good-for-nothing, poverty-stricken mini states were decreed into a sorry existence.”
The former press secretary urged the South Sudanese government to return the country to its previous 10 states which had known boundaries than the current 32 states.
“Go back to 10 states, or 23+ states, which have known boundaries and avoid communal conflicts over new contested boundaries.”
“And also imagine, 32 governors, 32 deputy governors, about 500 states ministers, 32 states legislative assemblies with a thousand members, etc., representing a total country’s population of just over 10 million people (equivalent to the population of one small state in USA, or one county in China) What a waste of resources! And besides, half of the country’s population is being fed on humanitarian assistance from international non-governmental organizations!,” wrote James Gatdet.
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