Disarmament begins in Mayom County

The South Sudan People's Defense Force (SSPDF) has launched disarmament exercise in Mayom County, Unity State over the weekend.

Last month, president Salva Kiir, declared state of emergency and ordered a general disarmament in Warrap State and Mayom County due to increasing insecurity in the communities.

Commissioner James Liyliy Kuol said the disarmament which started on Friday would help reduce random killings in the community and encouraged local youth to work with the SSPDF to ensure full voluntary disarmament.

"I am urging all civilians to cooperate with the disarmament authority, the SSPDF, to ensure full disarmament within the community, as the civilians should not exist without the government, since the civilians are protected by the government. All civilians must generally be disarmed without any resistance,” said Kuol.

Kuol did not provide the exact number of arms collected, as the disarmament process is still ongoing.

In response to the disarmament, youth representative Michael Tuach Magot thanked the SSPDF for consulting community leaders before starting the exercise. However, he criticized incidents of violence and urged the SSPDF to collaborate closely with local leaders to ensure a peaceful transfer of weapons from the youth.

"Since the SSPDF arrived in the community, they consulted community leaders telling them that they are going to engage the youth to ensure that all arms should be handed over to the government, which is good for the community,” Magot stated.

“The only challenge is that you may get some soldiers, if they are moving in a group and they find one person, they just shoot him, which is not good during the disarmament process."