The departing Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Juba have appealed to the country’s authorities to suspend Koch and Mayendit for inciting unrest in southern Unity State.
CTSAM-VM, the ceasefire monitoring organization, said last month that the commissioners of Mayendit and Koch in Unity are to account for the horrific violence that wracked Leer and sections of Koch counties.
During his departure statements at a news conference in Juba on Thursday, Ambassador David Renz questioned why the two commissioners were not held accountable for their roles in the ethnic violence in Unity State’s south.
“I have publicly asked why the commissioners in Koch and Mayendit counties have not been held responsible for their participation in the violence in those counties.” They should be suspended from their positions while South Sudan investigates their actions. “They should not be permitted to continue fueling this crisis,” said Ambassador Renz.
According to a UN Mission in South Sudan report, 72 people were slain and 64 women and children were raped in Unity State’s Leer County between February and April.
In various sources, the two commissioners of Mayendit and Koch have been accused of encouraging the terrible violence that left many people dead and hundreds of others displaced in Leer.
Mayendit Commissioner Gatluak Nyang Hoth, on the other hand, has previously denied mobilizing armed youngsters to assault communities in adjacent Leer County.
The charges leveled against Commissioner Gatluak by the ceasefire monitoring group CTSAM-VM were likewise dismissed as unfounded.
Meanwhile, the US envoy encourages the unity government to graduate the united troops in order to punish those responsible for the country’s intercommunal violence accountable.
“Some of the actions that are now occurring and will begin to speed the graduation of the unified command are what I have been advocating for, and what I still feel is doable.”
“In order for them to be effectively deployed in order to bring sub-national violence under control in our country.” “The nation will begin to punish those responsible for the violence accountable,” Mr. Renz added.
Ambassador Renz also emphasized the US commitment to implementing the peace deal and creating the environment for free, fair, and democratic elections.
David Renz started as Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in South Sudan in August of last year.
He formerly worked as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the United States Embassy in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
Mr. Renz has over 25 years of experience in the United States Foreign Service.
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