Secret army recruitment hits Bahr el Ghazal region as rival factions urge peace

Juba, January 29, 2019 (SSNA) — The South Sudanese government is conducting secret military recruitment in Twic State and that Juba sent hundreds of national security agents to intimidate people, a youth leader says.

In an audio obtained by the South Sudan News Agency (SSNA), Lino Madut Angok, a Youth leader in Twic state explained to the VOA’s South Sudan in Focus that local chiefs are ordered by security operatives to tell citizens of Twic that they should instruct their sons to join the army.

The youth leader explained that the citizens of his home state are wondering why the government is recruitment people when a peace deal was inked in September last year. Lino states that they have contacted other states to confirm if the same forced recruitment is also being conducted in other states. He disclosed that there is no recruitment in other states and that the people in Twic states are very worried about recruitment.

In the interview, Lino wonders why the new recruitment is not being advertised in all 32 states if it is not secret recruitment. He explained that young people who suppose be in schools or given other opportunities should not be forced to join the army.

Lino further revealed that a lot of young people have already been taken from their homes and that local chiefs refuse to give the exact number of youths.

There are also allegations that Jonglei state authority has secretly sent national security agents to Bor and that Bor citizens are constantly being harass for reasons they don’t understand.

The Khartoum’s peace agreement stipulates that all parties to the peace should not engage in new army recruitments and should not engage in activities that violate the pact. The SSNA was told by a current government official that “a lot of youths were already recruited from Bahr el Ghazal region and that they are already being trained in Luri.” The official also claims that the recruitment began in October 2018, adding, “the government has in the past two months successfully recruited and trained Anyuak youths in Pochalla.” He asserts that “there is now an active pro-government Anyuak militia group operating in Pochalla.” The South Sudan News Agency cannot independently verify these claims.