Council Bluffs, Iowa, May 27, 2017 (SSNA) — The Nuer Community Development Services in the United States (NCDS-USA) under the leadership of Chairwoman Nyanguok Gatloa has begun its annual convention on Saturday in the U.S state of Iowa after months of coordinated planning.
Thousands of community members from the United States and around the world attended the two-day meeting (May 27-28), which was held at The Mid-America Center, located in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Attendees flocked the convention center with many dancing and singing traditional songs.
The meeting was attended by the armed opposition figures. Among the noticeable attendees were Dr. Isaac Kueth Gang – SPLM/A-IO Representative to the United States, Stephen Par Kuol – Chairman of the SPLM/A-IO Foreign Affairs, Angelina Teny – SPLM/A-IO security and defense committee, among others.
The first day of the meeting was intense and security was very tight.
The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) witnessed two Nuer Community members (name withheld) being thrown out of the meeting hall after their names were discovered in a list deemed to be for Nuer members who have been labeled as “agents of current South Sudanese First Vice President Taban Deng Gai.” Gai and his followers were harshly criticized, with some people describing them as “Bogus SPLM/A-IO members who will never succeed in their stomach politics.”
“They [Taban and his supporters] are Nuer Community members who accept blood money from a genocidal regime who killed their own mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers,” Nhial Peter said.
“Taban Deng Gai is a nobody in the Greater Nuer Community. We know him, the man is a world-class selfish human being, Nhial assertively told the cheering audience.
The SSNA has also witnessed many attendees expressing their anger over the alleged detainment of South Sudanese rebel leader Dr. Riek Machar in South Africa. Members called for his release and warned that they are ready to launch “a scorched-earth global campaign” if their leader is not allowed to leave South Africa.
“We will burst into pieces Kiir’s blood money in the face of anyone who accepts bribes from Juba’s genocidal regime,” Sarah G. Deng warned.
Most speakers talked about Nuer unity and other strategies to counter any external threat against the Nuer community.
Dr. Gang said he is committed to working hard to make sure Nuer unity is achieved.
Kuol on his part told the audience that Nuer unity should not base on emotion, adding, “our unity must be strong now, tomorrow, and forever.”
Mrs. Teny calls for peace in South Sudan and urges the community members to stick together and work for peace.
Today (Sunday), the 2017 convention is expected to deliver on a host of issues and pass a resolution which will then be considered binding. The resolution will also be considered the final legal document of the next NCDS leadership.
The South Sudan News Agency was blocked from covering some closed-door deliberations. The SSNA team was told that the NCDS has rights to deny any media outlet from covering some “sensitive information.”
There are currently seven candidates vying for the NCDS-USA next leadership. The current leadership will step down in July 2017.
The Nuer Community Development Service is the largest South Sudanese Community in the United States.
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We shall remain on keeping that unity until the truths are revealed thank u all.
Mrs. Angelina Teny, Please go to South Africa with these Nuers convening number and stage a rally in South Africa, so that your husband Dr. Riek Machar may will release. Advocate
Nuer community is good for their bravery. But one unfortunate thing is pursuing tribal agendas as started by Salva Kiir can not succeed given our diversity.
What are you doing to Nuer in South Sudan, you the donors – the American Government? What’s the current US Aid policy in South Sudan?
The CPA between North and South Sudan come to force in 2005, which bring the 23 year old civil war to an end when both sides to the conflict honoured their part to the agreement. Shortly after this CPA was successfully implemented, the US Aid in South Sudan spent at least $200 million US dollar in constructing a single lane highway from Juba up to Kampala. To present day, this US Aid highway is the only lifeline and outlet of South Sudan to East Africa. All outgoing and incoming goods in particular are using this route for over the last ten year which is really good for the government and population in Juba, who receiving their food and goods supply from East Africa i.e. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania and other places, for example, by Port Mombasa. But these donors had ignoring the largest part of the country, in particular the entire greater Upper Nile regions which has been totally devastated during the civil war. Because for the past 23 years from 1983 to 2005 not only the civil war was fought here in Nuer land but also all the influxes refuges from every part of South Sudan walked on foot through Nuer land to take refuge in East Africa mainly Itang and Gambella region. Millions of Sudanese refugees flew to Itang and Gambella in Ethiopia from 1983 to 1992 to escape the consequences of the civil war in Sudan. UNHCR and all other international NGOs were based in Ethiopia in order to supply relief work to the displaced population in Gambella and Itang and other surrounding regions where people took refuge. In 1982-3, the UNHCR tried to construct a temporary road with sands and gravels from Gambella to itang, which usually closed during the raining season because the road is not spill – not covered with concrete. After the civil war was over, we thought that this road should be priority and extended further to the Nuer hinterland from Eastern Nuer up to Western Nuer perhaps up to Bhar al Ghazal when South Sudan gained more than just an autonomy there is no reason why they could not developed their country so that they have more outlets to get their goods supply to and out of the country. The fact is, UNHCR and other international NGOs notably the US Aid is largely to blame for turning blind eye to what would eventually become the imbalance in the development and rehabilitation of the South Sudanese returnees. Upper Nile region is about 45-500 miles away from Juba and every food and goods supply coming through the US Aid highway from Kambella to Juba would never and will never reached Upper Nile, partly because of poor road infrastructure and mainly because of the distance. Gambella is about 200 miles away from Western Upper Nile which mean Ethiopia route is nearest outlets to Upper Nile region in comparison to Uganda. They knew then and they know now that the greater Upper Nile is largely Nilotic and Nuer almost entirely. Nuer land had feed and support both the government of Sudan troops on operations and the rebel SPLA/M during the turbulent time of conflicts and liberation struggles. South Sudan consists of 56 tribes according to the government records in public domain. These tribes are divided into four groups, namely, Hamitic, Bantu, Nilotic and Nilo-Hamitic. Bantu and Hamitic features were rare to be seen in the refugee camp in Itang, Gambella and surrounding regions in Ethiopia where refugees took refuge. Almost all tribes in Equatoria did not go to refugee camps in Ethiopia but some began to flew the homeland in South Sudan to East Africa – Uganda and Zaire in the last 2-3 years of 2003-05 toward the end of the civil war and, one should say that almost all of them did not have the same experience of devastation and suffering as those in greater Upper Nile. Foreigner observers do not often or do not at all writes about these either because they know little about it or they were the part of cover-up of what is happening to some ethnic group in South Sudan. We are now calling for rapid construction – development of this outlets.
P Gaisiance