South Sudan: Two Activists Arrested on Same Day New Parliament is Sworn In - Reports

Cape Town — South Sudan on Monday swore in hundreds of lawmakers to a newly created national parliament, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports^[1].

A total of 588 MPs - a mix of delegates from the ruling party and former rebel factions who signed the truce that ended the country's civil war - took the oath of office at a ceremony in Juba presided over by the chief justice.

The creation of an inclusive national assembly was a key condition of the 2018 ceasefire that paused five years of bloodshed that left nearly 400,000 people dead.

President Salva Kiir did not attend the event.

AFP is also reporting^[2] that government security agents on Monday arrested at least two prominent activists who joined a call for a peaceful public uprising to seek political change.

A coalition of civil society groups last week issued a declaration saying they had "had enough" after 10 years of independence marked by civil war, escalating insecurity, hunger and political instability.

Kuel Aguer Kuel, a former state governor, and renowned analyst Augustino Ting Mayai, were arrested in the capital Juba for signing the declaration, said Rajab Mohandis, another of the signatories.

References

1. ^{^} Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports (www.msn.com)
2. ^{^} AFP is also reporting (www.theeastafrican.co.ke)