South Sudan President Kiir Welcomes Deal With Yau Yau Rebels

David Yau Yau, a former leader in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), who defected during the transitional phase to independence from Khartoum. His fighters have continued hostilities against Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

SUNDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2014

S. Sudan president welcomes deal with Yau Yau rebels

February 1, 2014 (JUBA) - South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, through his spokesperson, praised the ceasefire agreement inked on Thursday between his government and Jonglei-based rebels led by David Yau Yau.

Presidential press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny said the document widened the room for further negotiations with the group.

"This is a very important step which the president appreciate for peaceful settlement of political differences," said Wek at press briefing on Saturday in Juba.

The government declared unilateral ceasefire with Yau Yau’s group on January 6. It was and accepted David Yau Yau a day later but it took until January 30 to for a deal to be signed.

The cessation of hostilities agreement ends two years of insurgency which Yau Yau has led from his home county of Pibor county with young men from his Murle tribe.

However, Yau Yau’s fighters are mainly armed civilians who engage in cattle rustling and analysts are skeptical about the viability of any agreement.

South Sudan’s government moved quickly to reinvigorate its efforts to end Yau Yau’s rebellion after fighting within the army on December 15 spread into a conflict that has mainly affected Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states.

This is not the first time that Yau Yau has accepted an amnesty from president Kiir.

Yau Yau rebelled against South Sudan’s ruling party - the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) after elections - in April 2010 when, as an independent candidate, he lost his campaign to represent the Gumuruk–Boma constituency in Pibor county at the Jonglei state assembly.

In 2011 Yau Yau joined the South Sudanese army (SPLA) and was made a General despite his lack of military experience. He had previously trained as a pastor.

However, he rebelled again in April 2012 leading the SPLA to announced that it was suspending the civilian disarmament campaign in the area to focus on nullifying the rebellion.

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David Yauyau / David Yau Yau

Background :

Yauyau rebelled against South Sudan’s ruling party - the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) after elections - in April 2010 when, as an independent candidate, he lost his campaign to represent the Gumuruk–Boma constituency in Pibor County at the Jonglei State Assembly.

The SPLM candidate, Judi Jonglei Bioris, won the race by a wide margin according to electoral authorities. Before his failed election bid Yauyau studied theology in Southern Sudan and Kenya and then served as the Pibor County secretary of the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Jonglei.

Yauyau hails from the Murle ethnic group, which is based in Pibor County where he carried out most of his activities during his first rebellion. A report from the Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) of the Small Arms Survey said last year that Yauyau’s initial rebellion may have been more about internal Murle politics than electoral grievances.

The Murle, Luo Nuer, and Dinka as well as some other tribes in Jonglei are involved in cycle of raids and counter raids for cattle, bounty and revenge that escalated dramatically over December and January displacing over 100,000 people.

A disarmament campaign has been underway in Jonglei since mid-March involving 15,000 soldiers and police in an attempt to disarm the civilian population. In the past disarmament campaigns have entrenched the Murle’s disaffection with the SPLM and SPLA and their perception that they are marginalised at a national level, according to the 2011 HSBA report.

The report said : "Murle discontent and general insecurity in Pibor county have proved to be fertile ground for such a revolt, and the area is one where the South Sudanese army (SPLA) has failed to assert and extend its authority, beyond the conduct of brutal disarmament campaigns that have served to stoke local discontent."

In 2011 Yauyau joined the SPLA but rebelled again in April 2012. After an increase in violence in Pibor County the SPLA announced that it was suspending the civilian disarmament campaign in the area to focus on nullifying the rebellion.

Despite his estimated small numbers of soldiers - in his first rebellion - Yauyau was still able to cause considerable instability in Pibor County, in one instance clashing with the SPLA outside Pibor town just two days before South Sudan’s independence referendum.

Unlike other figures who led insurrections after the 2010 elections Yauyau was a civilian and not a member of the army before his rebellion - although when he reconciled with Juba in 2011 he was given the position of General in the SPLA.

From 2004 to 2006 Yau Yau studied for a Diploma in theology at Emmanuel Christian College in Yei in Central Equatoria State under the teaching of the now Bishop of Bor Diocese, Rev. Ruben Akurdit Ngong.

In December Akurdit said he had thought the young David Yau Yau "was going to make a pastor" but admitted "he has turned to a big enemy of his own country.”

Report by the Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) Project of the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey from February 2011 : David Yauyau Rebellion, Jonglei State.