Fashoda Conference: Will Correct Skeptics

The New Upper Nile government in a very courageous step organized a three-day conference(25th to 27th ) August 2010, at Fashoda(Paccodo) the seat of king of Collo kingdom. There are theories about inception of the idea. In spite of being under the auspices of H.M. the Reth, It was rather a government affair.

The outstanding of these theories is to use a diplomatic approach to capture the brake away SPLA Brigadier Robert Gwang, after the failure of military actions taken by SPLA/SPLM and the GOSS to capture him. Gwang resorted to use arms against his own army, when he came form his deployment else where in south Sudan to find that his home was burnt down to ashes by his SPLA army. Since then the SPLM-DC had been wrongfully hurl at with lies by Kuol Diem and his buddies.

The meeting was attended by SPLM officials from Malakal, who had previously accused him of being SPLM-DC militia, the repercussion which led to illegal arrest of SPLM-DC MP Hon. Mustafa Gai, Dr. Odol and others who are still in detention. The three-day conference in Fashoda, mentioned nothing about SPLM-DC, but concentrated on the issue of Collo – Dinka borders as the main cause of the problem. Most of the Collo Chiefs praised Cdr. Gwang for job well done for defending Collo territory.

There was a real change of heart for those who had not seen the atrocities being committed against the people. It is well known that the arms in the Collo land had been collected completely during George Athor’s tenure as the commander of the area. After sincere deliberation, it became clear to all that SPLA is the culprit, because all the personnel of the SPLA army in Upper Nile came from other tribes and had no respect for the local people.

The conference resolved that the followings listed points be observed:

1.Cease fire between Cdr. Robert Gwang SPLA Forces and opponents SPLA forces that are fighting them.

2.SPLM Politicians to resolve the border issues.

3.The government of Upper Nile State to take up the matter with GOSS.

The bottom line here is there is no mention of SPLM-DC being implicated in the conflict. The problems of Shilluk Kingdom rest squarely with SPLM. It remains to be known how the Upper Nile will be successful penetrating the lines up the ladder. People like Gier Chuang and Kuol Diem must learn from days, instead of filling the media with lies to hide their Agenda, they should come out openly to address the issues causing unrest in the south as being the borders issues and poor human rights.