JUBA – South Sudanese activists from civil society organizations have rubbished a call by the People’s Coalition for Civil Action urging citizens to take to the streets to register their dissatisfaction against the deteriorating state of affairs in the country.

Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), told City Review that civilians should channel their grievances through the newly-elected MPs as opposed to anti-government protests.

“If we want to give pressure on the implementation of the agreement, we should hold the current members of parliament accountable” the activist stressed.

On July 30, the People’s Coalition for Civil Action issued a declaration urging citizens to reclaim their rights through civil disobedience.

Mr. Yakani said while the call for a civil uprising was the political right of the coalition in the bill of rights as enshrined in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 as amended, civil disobedience quite often degenerates into bloodshed.

The executive director also warned of the current state of affairs within the SPLM-IO, which he said could stir insecurity in the whole country.

“We need to look at how the wrangles within the SPLA-IO party can be resolved, if not it will take another dimension and affect the peace implementation and that will be bad on the side of civilians,” Yakani warned.

On Friday last week, activists from another civil society group, the Citizens for National Solidarity described the call for civil uprising as “dangerous” and “misleading”.

“The call for civil disobedience can jeopardize the peace implementation and cause panic among the people who are currently rebuilding their lives after the return of peace in the country,” Michael Mading Akueth, the group’s leader said at a press conference last week.

“The call for civil action against the government is dangerous, misleading and it can easily trigger violence in the country again,” he added.

Another member of the Citizens for National Solidarity, James Mohandis Apugi, urged citizens to dismiss the call for civil action aimed at sabotaging the government’s efforts to restore sustainable peace in the country.

“We are calling for peaceful coexistence and call on the citizens to give the government a chance to implement the peace agreement,” Mohandis told journalists in Juba.

Juma Mabor Marial, a legal advocate, cautioned citizens against being used by people seeking to satisfy and achieve their personal interests.

“We don’t want our people to be misled based on private interests and this is why we are trying to reach out to our citizens that there are different avenues under the peace agreement of 2018 that can help us to address this issue,” Mabor said.

Last week, the National Security Service shut down Sudd Institute, a research think tank after some organization staff members were accused of pledging allegiance to the People’s Coalition for Civil Action.