JUBA – The South Sudan National Police Service said one of the signatories to the document of the People’s Coalition for Civil Actions (PCCA) that called for the August 30 uprising will be arraigned in court.
Police Spokesperson Maj. Gen Justin Daniel said the former governor of Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State Kuel Aguer Kuel will be presented before the court for signing the document that incited citizens to take to the streets to register their dissatisfaction against the government.
Kuel was arrested on August 2, 2021, by the South Sudan National Security Service (NSS) for taking part in the PCCA activities.
However, Maj. Gen Justin dismissed the alleged report that several civil society activists had been arrested last week in connection with the People’s Coalition for Civil Actions campaign for the public uprising in the country.
“No, we have not arrested anybody except Kuel Aguer Kuel. [He is under our custody]. We have opened up a case against him and [will be taken to court maybe tomorrow [to be charged with [being one of the] signatories to the coalition’s press release,” Maj. Gen. Justin said.
Arrests
Despite the denial of a crackdown on the dissents by the police boss, the NGOs forum revealed in a statement that civil society activists Victor Yoasa and Bishop Jackson Yemba Antipas were arrested by the government security agencies in Yei River County of Central Equatoria State.
Mr. Yoasa, who is the Executive Director for Yamora—a national NGO— was arrested on Wednesday evening while Bishop Yemba of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church was arrested on Thursday morning.
In Jonglei State, the state security also closed down the Christian Church-owned Radio known as Jonglei FM for allegedly linking with the campaigners for the PCCA.
“We are just getting that information from the media,” Maj. Gen Justin denied any knowledge about the arrests.
The PCCA has been fronting the idea of engineering a regime change as the government warns against the disruption of peace in the country and the ongoing implementation of the security arrangements.
Last week, the Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny warned in a pre-recorded interview with RBC TV that a quest to topple the current government would yield chaos instead of sanity.
Ateny said the situation in the country is so fragile and those advocating for the removal of President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar were only wishing anarchy upon the youngest nation in the continent.
Security beefed up
The government through the Central Equatoria State warned against the illegal assembly, vowing a stern punishment for the offenders who dare participate in the supposed Monday protests.
Central Equatoria Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony pledged a tamper-proof security measure to ensure no protest takes place and the situation does not degenerate into a breach of security.
“The security situation shall remain peaceful and stable without any tolerance of such violent moves being instigated by some anti-peace elements who are remotely using the innocent citizens on the social media behind their keyboards,” Adil said in a statement released by his office.
“Any attempt to stage a demonstration or whatever you call it in Juba and across the country and the Central Equatoria State, in particular; will be met with a swift and forceful response by the abled and determined security apparatus across the state to the fullest,” he stated.