In the past week, thousands of civilians in Source Yubo, near Yambio, on the Democratic Republic of Congo border have fled new violence.
The situation is reminiscent of 2009, even then it was very confused in this area. And this week again great unrest. A joint Azande rebel group known as Ani Kpi + CPF attacked the SSPDF barracks in Source Yubo Payam of Tambura County, Western Equatoria. This Azande rebel group consists of Azande youth, militias and military personnel from three countries: South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. have eroded greatly over the years.
The aim of the Azande rebel group is to create a new country. The Azande country. The name Azande means ‘the people who own much land’ and refers to their past as powerful conquerors. The Azande have recently crowned their own king, King Atoroba. He should be the successor of King Gbudwe Bazingbi (King Yambio) after almost 120 years. He was the king of the Azande from 1870–1905. His role and empire came to an end after he was killed by the British rulers.
The Azande are mainly small farmers, who mainly grow maize, rice, peanuts, sesame, cassava and sweet potato. They also grow mango, mandarin, banana, pineapple and cane sugar. There are also many oil palms in their area. A large part of the soils of the Azande have eroded strongly over the years.
The government of South Sudan is not well able to contain the unrest. The 2013-2020 civil war has only recently taken place and the 2018 power-sharing deal is fragile. Rival military groups must form a joint army and democratic elections must finally take place so that a new constitution can be adopted. Laws, rules and boundaries; we grew up with it in the west, but South Sudan still has a lot to gain from this.
May 5 is National Day of Prayer in South Sudan. Many people have gone to church to pray for unity. There have also been prayer protests. Many soldiers and enforcers have not received a salary for more than 2.5 years. People prayed in the churches whether the government would provide clarity to the citizens and whether salaries could be paid. Economic progress is one of the important keys to peace and security. We are on the right track, but we are far from home.
