A renowned South Sudanese civil society activist has called on the governments of South Sudan and Sudan to expedite the process of deciding the final status of the contested Abyei Area which straddles the border of the two counties.

Edmund Yakani, the executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), told Radio Tamazuj over the weekend that the issue of Abyei has been left outstanding since 2005 when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and was not concluded when South Sudan attained independence in 2011.

He welcomed the recent move by Sudan and South Sudan to form a committee to negotiate the final status of Abyei.

“We have previously seen that in such negotiations when it comes to the final status of Abyei, people will generate another new agenda that makes people not finish the business of deciding on the final status of Abyei,” he said. “This should stop.”

He urged the two governments to include civil society, religious leaders, and community members from Abyei in the negotiation process.

“The process should be inclusive and we want to make sure that there is the direct participation of the civil society and religious leaders at the negotiation table to make sure that the voices of other stakeholders from the Abyei communities are involved,” Yakani insisted.

He cautioned that the final status of Abyei should be determined using the Abyei Protocol as prescribed by the CPA.

“The final status of Abyei is based on the provisions of the protocol on Abyei as enshrined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005,” he cautioned. “Anything that is not in line with the Abyei Protocol as provided in the CPA, will be seen as a violation.”

President Salva Kiir last Tuesday established a committee to handle Abyei’s final status chaired by his security advisor, Tut Gatluak. The Minister of East African Community Affairs, Deng Alor Kuol, will deputize Gatluak while Foreign Minister Mayiik Ayii Deng was named rapporteur.

The other members of the committee are Asha Abbas Akuei, Nyanaguek Kuol Mareng, Augustino Jadalla Wani, Tor Deng Mawein, Akol Khoor Koc, Deng Arop Kuol, Deng Biong Mijak, and Deng Deng Akuei.

President Kiir tasked the committee with pursuing the final status of the disputed Abyei Administrative Area through coordination with a mirror committee on the Sudan side.

Source: Radio Tamazuj