S. Sudan rules out disintegration should talks fail

March 23, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudan has downplayed claims that the young nation could disintegrate into tribal enclaves, should government and its armed opposition faction fail to reach a peace deal.

South Sudan’s foreign affairs minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin (Photo: Reuters)

“Those are wishes from people who want this country to sink and disintegrate, but I don’t think they will succeed,” South Sudan’s cabinet affairs minister, Martin Lomuro said on Monday.

He said the issue of disintegration was associated with national identity and that any patriotic South Sudanese should ignore it.

“This is about our passport. It is about our identity. When you are out of South Sudan, whether in the opposition or with the government you identify yourself as South Sudanese, isn’t it?” asked Lomuro.

Meanwhile, foreign affairs minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, said in a separate interview on the issue that the government had dispatched a delegation to neighbouring Kenya to discuss last week’s dispute around Napadal area in Eastern Equatoria state.

The Toposa tribe in South Sudan and Turkana tribe in Kenya have often clashed over a stretch of land straddling Kenya-South Sudan border, including the Illem Triangle.

The two senior government officials were reacting to reports that countries, which share direct borders with the young nation, could take advantage of the current conflict and annex some areas.

Many observers, for instance, have fears that Kenya could annex the Illemi Triangle in Eastern Equatoria while Uganda may lay a claim on some of the disputed areas in Madi and Acholi areas in Eastern Equatoria and some parts of Central and Western Equatoria states.

Peter Adwok Nyaba, South Sudan’s former minister of higher education and a member of armed opposition said neighbouring Sudan could annex some parts of Western and Northern Bahr el Ghazal in addition to Unity and Northern Upper Nile state regions.

“Ethiopia may lay a claim on parts of Eastern Upper Nile and Jonglei. This happened to Western Sahara when Spain withdrew in 1975 leaving Morocco and Mauritania to struggle over it”, he recently warned.

(ST)