REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN RSS

JONGLEI STATE
DUK COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OFFICE
26 March 2015
QUARTERLY REPORT ( JANUARY-MARCH 2015)
Fellow Citizen allows me to take this opportunity to try and highlight some few things about the
general situation in Duk County. As most of you may be aware of the problems faced in the county.
When I took over as new commissioner of Duk County I inherited an administration full of challenges
and lacking tools to tackle those hurdles. One thing on the agenda was the insecurity, as you all
know our county was left in rubbles by the upheaval, and as I was handed the new office it was clear
that all of us local or in Diaspora will have to embark on the process of rebuilding duk from scratch.
As I move from one office to the other trying to figure out the best way possible to address the
situation, I conducted numerous meetings in Duk county, Panyagor, Bor town and Juba to try and
bring the communities on one line of thinking about what to do. Those meetings were of paramount
importance because of the fact finding mission I carried out in the county towards the end of
December 2014 and early 2015.
I met the youth in the two locations of Duk county with the highest population density, the
population in both Ayueldit boma of Greater padiet and Poktap boma of Greater payuel were living
in two places either because it was guarded by the army just like was the case in Poktap or they feel
it present them with the best chance of escaping should they be attacked just like it was in Ayueldit.
When I talked to the youths our primary strength given our county security problems for the last
eight years, they told me that our concern is that we need to be patrolling our county, for us to do
that they said, we need at least three pickups land cruisers which will provide mobility to the police
force in their readiness to maintaining law and order in the county and also help in service delivery
in the remote parts of Duk. I told them that your questions shall be answered and that bring me to
my many meetings held in Juba. Our meetings in Juba in December and early January 2015 were
meant to address the pressing needs at home just like what our brothers the youths have aired.
During our gatherings we tried to outsource finances since our county accounts were blank, our only
true source of money was the CDF Kitty and the County grant, finances allocated to the three
departments of Health, Education and rural water respectively. The citizens of Duk county present in
the meeting told me the best thing to do was to consult with duk communities in Bor town, They are
the right constituents members who can make the final decision of CDF funds, money availed to
constituencies to carry out projects meant to alleviate the lives of the people in the constituencies
targeted. That was the consensus reached.

Email: dukCounty2014@gmail.com Email: jwadeng@gmail.com

On 27th Jan 2015 the meeting did take place in Bor town, Garden resort Hotel, It was chaired by Hon.
Anne Lino Wuor Abyei, Member of Parliament in NLA in my presence. The issue discussed was, how
do we get the money to purchase the pickups needed to tackle mobility and insecurity problems?
Our area chiefs and all the members who attended agreed that it was important to use the CDF
money to buy the pickups and refund the contractor who was building the secondary school at
Mareng before the conflict erupted. Officially the money was allocated to the school project in 2012,
but they admit that they own the school and have the final say on how to pay the contractor should
he resume the construction when peace return, so according to their words they all said that the
money can be used to first make sure the county was safe and later we can talk about the school
project and the mode of payment. One way suggested by the chiefs was that after the money is
used, we will make sure the first county money which crop up will be kept safely for the contractor.
The meeting conclude with that recommendation but it also depend on the CDF committee in Juba,
the outfit tasked with betting the projects deemed appropriate to pass their signature and for our
case, the committee was expected to try and reconsider what the constituents have brought
forward and release the money, the very same fund allocated to building one secondary school in
Duk county. But until then it depend on what the committee will say.
Moving on from there, it was time to talk about peace, and the IDPS, I approached the UN agencies
and The NGOs, and present to them the facts on the ground, the dire need for humanitarian
assistance in Duk, the population need water supply, medical services and education supply, those
were the sectors affected the most and make up the basic needs the communities can start building
on, the other sectors were equally affected, Agriculture sector for example was worse hit and thus
the persistence lack of food. They responded well and a good number of these organizations started
visiting Duk for field assessments, they include, JAM INTERNATIONAL, OXFAM, LWF, NCA, WFP, CARE
INTERNATIONAL, IOM, FAO, UNDP, UN OCHA, UNMISS, UNICEF, ACTED and the four Organizations
already on the ground and based at Poktap, CRS, SMC, JDF and WADENG.
These organizations did the assessment and promise to implement various projects once the fund
was made available to them by their respective Donors. CRS was already on the ground distributing
food to the populations at Poktap and Ayueldit, SMC and JDF Providing medical services in the
county Wadeng is also active on the ground, it had carried out the registration of the households in
the 21 villages around Ayueldit, the information was made available to CARE and it helped them to
supply the NFI kits.
About the peace mission, I consult with the Governor of Jonglei state and the Government officials in
Bor to try and organize the session where the commissioners from Ayod, Duk ,Uror, Twic East and
Nyirol can come together and talk about peace among the neighbors, something from within, the
above counties have been at peace for a very long time and along that line, we can shape one
successful agreement on how the communities affected can get out of this political mess, the peace
in Addis Ababa may not materialize soon and our local communities are suffering at the expense of
the wrangling politicians.
Concerning the same, I was nominated by Governor John Kong Nyuon who was very supportive of
the peace mission we were pursuing to attend South Sudan tribes peace conference at Nyakuron,
Juba under the theme; PEACE NOW, SOUTH SUDAN TRIBES UNITED AGAINST WAR.

It brought together all the sixty five tribes of south Sudan, the idea was to try and get their views on
how peace in Addis can be fast tracked to end the bloodshed in the country. It ran for two days and
on the second day, the resolutions were drafted ready for Addis to help the negotiators there.
While in Juba attending peace mission, I reached out to the international community in the capital
and the diplomatic corps, I approached the Canadian Ambassador to south Sudan and he agreed to
organize a diner at his residence. He too by extension invited a good number of UN agencies i.e.
UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID and the EU to listen to me make a case concerning Duk county and the
humanitarian gap there. Earlier he successfully arranged for the meeting between me and the US
ambassador.
It went on well and our problems in Duk were noted, they did promise to take a trip to Duk
individually and make an assessment which shall be used as the basis for implementation. LWF and
the NCA were already ahead and have supplied the NFI kits to Poktap and were finalizing on how to
supply the same items to Ayueldit.
At the same time I did travel and talk to the two ministers, minister for foreign affairs and interior
and our one on one talks each time was prudent, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin promised to help in
the purchase of one pickup, the one to be used in the patrol of the areas out of reach in Duk. Dr.
Marial saw it to be a brilliant idea to help fast track the resumption of service delivery in the county
and in the long run will improve the living standard between the people in Duk County and the
people of Uror, not forgetting Ayod and day to day trade among the citizen was crucial. Minister
Aleu Ayeny Aleu on the other hand said the same thing and told me to avail one land cruiser pickup
to help Duk County in their quest for peace and stability.
Also as we struggle to solve the problem at the borders of Ayod and Uror, there was an issue of
concern between Duk and Yirol East County along the wetlands toch, the incident involved people
from Yirol shooting at any boat that bypassed them at the illegal check point, one person from Duk
was killed and the revenge was carried out resulting into one guy from Yirol being killed. As of now it
has escalated but the case rest with the two counties leadership and both the state and the national
government to address this threat to peace at that part of the world.
In the first week of March 2015, we successfully used the county grant to purchased one pickup, it
was a long wait but finally we have something to show for the effort poured in. the vehicle is now
available in the county and at the disposal of the county to cater for any transport need. The sectors
with the urgent need of transport now are the rural water department, supply of BH spare parts,
most of our existing water points were partially or completely destroyed during the crisis, Our local
clinics also need regular supply of drugs and the education sector where learning materials obtained
in bor have to find their way to Duk schools, and our newly acquired automobile will be in top gear
to deliver the service it was purchased for.
Last but not the least, my request was granted, the Governor of Jonglei State agreed to send the two
commissioners of Uror and Nyirol to Duk County. On 11th march 2015 Mabor Bol, Nyang Chol and
Myself arrived in Duk for the peace mission. the next day, peace mission was started at Poktap, the
area chiefs and the general public present agreed to forgive their enemies and let go all the property
looted during the conflict and instead extend out brotherly hand welcoming their brothers from
Uror to Duk county for food and Pasture for their animals as its been before during this time of the
year.

On the second day of the peace mission the two commissioners and myself moved on to Ayueldit,
the meeting there was attended by the elders and the local leaders, in short the attendance was not
big like it was at poktap but was convincing to conduct the crucial gathering. Those who attended
also echoed what was said in Poktap a day earlier, nothing will bring back their animals and the lost
loved ones they said, but we the ones left behind have the responsibility to forge a lasting peace and
live in harmony with our neighbors.
On the third and the final day of the peace process, the acting Governor of Jonglei State Mr. Baba
Medan graced the occasion as its Guest.
This day will be marked as the day of peace conducted in Duk county as revealed by those who
talked, it was worth noting that the peace mission after the 1991 split was remotely started in Duk
and it later culminated into bringing together one time sworn enemies, Dr. John Garang, the SPLM/A
Chairman and Dr. Riek Machar, who had rejoined Khartoum to fight Garang. So it maybe a self
regulated peace from within and who knows may have a major bearing on the national negotiations.
Duk county commissioner in his remark said that we were the glue and the connectors who will
bring the two warring parties to the negotiation table and make them achieve the treasure, peace.
Our being at the border can help us bring the two parties to the table for dialogue, we share
everything including the markings on the forehead and we again speak the same language he said.
Those traits are unique throughout South Sudan and only the people of Duk enjoy those. Thus the
reason we think national peace can be achieved when our common identity at the border is used for
the benefit of all, seeing that killing each other is helping no one but forgiveness and sharing of
ideas on how to gain from the peace we can bring put a smile on all the vulnerable women and
children from both tribes.
The area chiefs decorated the occasion by officially signing the resolutions passed at the peace
conference to make it official to the government of Jonglei and the national government in Juba, the
two recipients of the draft.
In his closing remark, the Acting Governor of Jonglei stressed the major role played by Duk County,
working very hard towards the path of peace. We appreciate them for the courage and the level of
kindness they have shown throughout these tough times. Its clearly noted that Duk County will be
the home of peace in Jonglei state. It has the potential of uniting all the tribes of Jonglei, given their
being at the border with different communities.
Thank you
Yours in service

Hon. Jacob Akech Dengdit

Commissioner, Duk County