By William Madouk<\/p>\n
During his remarks at the eighth Governors’ Forum, Vice President Taban Deng Gai, chair of the infrastructure cluster made a bombshell statement claiming that “there is no government in Khartoum.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This statement has nearly caused a diplomatic stir with neighboring, Sudan. However, the Minister of Presidential Affairs quickly distanced the Juba government from this assertion, stating that it reflects an individual perspective.<\/p>\n VP Gai highlighted that the people of Abyei, a contested administrative area, are currently suffering, and the lack of a government in Sudan has exacerbated their plight. He suggested that Ambassadors and UN agencies from Juba should visit the Abyei Administrative Area to support the Ngok people.<\/p>\n \u201cUN agencies to visit Abyei, many of them are scared \u2013 they think Abyei is not part of Juba government,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n \u201cDo the government of Port Sudan really have time to listen or check on the people of Abyei? It is not a priority to them \u2013 these people are suffering \u2013 they got no schools even Athony airport is blocked by Khartoum not to be operated,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n VP wondered how long the government would keep quiet over the closure of Athony airport. Mr. Gai called for the provision of humanitarian assistance to the already suffering Ngok Dinka of Abyei.<\/p>\n \u201cHumanitarian assistance to be increased from Juba to Abyei and UN agencies should also be visiting Abyei because there is no government in Khartoum \u2013 there is a vacuum. Why do we allow our people to suffer that way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The VP also urged the forum to encourage and prioritize peace conferences between Ngok and nomadic Arab Misseriya.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are for a total solution for the problem of Abyei but also, we must pressure so that we have a total settlement,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can also give an ultimatum to the UN that for several years now you have been keeping quiet on the settlement of Abyei.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cwe are going to recognize the referendum of Abyei in the absence of the total settlement of Abyei. We can discuss this with them, let them give us a total solution in the absence of a solution we are going to recognize the referendum of Abyei.\u201d<\/p>\n Gai claimed that Misseriya Arabs are now living in harmony with Ngok Dinka of Abyei, adding that all previous messes from Misseriya were allegedly sponsored by the Khartoum regime.<\/p>\n He disclosed that Misseriya also took one-third of Abyei area during arbitration.<\/p>\n Reacting to the Vice President\u2019s statement, minister of presidential affairs, Chol Mawut Ajongo said Taban Deng\u2019s statement doesn\u2019t represent the view of the government of South Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a statement to clarify a statement that was attributed to the Vice President during the governors\u2019 Forum with respect to Sudan that there was no government in Sudan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, it is to make clear that it is not the position of the government of South Sudan and doesn\u2019t represent in any way the position and view of the government of South Sudan led by H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardit,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Ajongo noted Juba administration respects the territorial integrity and legitimacy government of the Republic of Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just to make clear that whatever statement that has been made\u2013that view represents probably the views of the vice president but not the position of the government of South Sudan,\u201d he echoed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By William Madouk During his remarks at the eighth Governors’ Forum, Vice President Taban Deng Gai, chair of the infrastructure cluster made a bombshell statement claiming that “there is no government in Khartoum.” This statement has nearly caused a diplomatic stir with neighboring, Sudan. However, the Minister of Presidential Affairs[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":31389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Vice-President-Taban-Deng-Gai-chair-of-the-infrastructure-cluster-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31388"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31391,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31388\/revisions\/31391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cWe have a very big problem in Abyei, the vacuum is very clear – South Sudanese must know this, the people on Ngok are South Sudanese and we can\u2019t allow them to suffer the way they are suffering,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cRight now, there is no government in Khartoum and they are left that way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\nHe suggested that the forum should give a special proposal or recommendation on Abyei.<\/p>\n