National Minister of Peace Building in South Sudan, Stephen Phar Kuol says the government can only carry peaceful disarmament if they assured the community of efficient public security.
The official was speaking during a panel discussion on sustainable peace on Juba Day the country commemorated UN Day.
Hon. Kuol raised concern that the rate of intercommoned violence in the young nation is alarming and needs commitment to tackle the matter.
Hon Stephen underscored that some communities are armed against others or concerning communal protection against external aggression
He added that the government should prioritize implementing chapter two of the Revitalized Agreement which emphasizes security arrangement
“The intercommoned violence that you see in the country here is alarming, today we have a community that is armed against each other and sometimes also against the state.
The protection is now self-provided, everybody is armed to protect his community, and that is why it’s very important to start with chapter two which was supposed to be a free transitional task including transitional security arrangement,” Par mentioned.
The national minister articulated that the government should initiate dialogue with the community before peaceful disarmament across the country.
He reiterates the need for trust-building between the government and communities
Hon Stephen said the community needs public security assurances from the government to voluntarily surrender their guns
“We embark on a dialogue with our community because disarming the community taking the arms they are using to destabilize the countryside. I don’t believe in physical forceful disarmament and I think the role of the government after this thing we call peacebuilding must start with trust building with the community,” he said.
Minister argued that the community does not like the weapons that they are carrying, but people left with no choice because they want assurance from government about the safety.
In June this year, the governance tabled a draft bill to disarm civilians which was presented to the Council of Ministers for deliberation. However, the bill was recently approved and taken to the president for signature to become law.