CG Juba Weekly Round-up: February 6-10

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000339 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR SU SUBJECT: CG Juba Weekly Round-up: February 6-10 Ref: Khartoum 00292 ¶1. Paulino Matip and Simon Gatwick traveled to Jonglei this week to help ensure peace is maintained there, following last week's fighting between Nuer tribesmen and SPLA troops (reftel). Matip is expected back in Juba this weekend, and the area has reportedly stabilized. ¶2. GoSS Presidential Decree 20/2006 officially established Paulino Matip as the Deputy Commander-in- Chief of the SPLA, second only to Salva Kiir. Decrees 21 and 22 established the political committee that will oversee implementation of the Juba Declaration and the military committee that will implement the agreement, respectively. Decree 24 granted a general amnesty to all members of the SPLA and SSDF as of January 21 (Note: Although Gordon Kong calls his organization the SSDF, only Paulino Matip's faction is legally recognized as the SSDF in Southern Sudan. End note.) ¶3. GoSS Presidential Decree 23/2006 appointed SSDF general Changson Lew Chang to the newly created position of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. The nature of the new ministry has yet to be clearly defined, but will most likely serve as a liaison between the GoSS executive and the Southern assemblies (at both the sub-national and state levels). This is the 22nd ministry to be established. Only the position of Minister for SPLA Affairs, the equivalent of the Minister of Defense, remains open. ¶4. The Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by the Archbishop of Salisbury, will be in Renk, Upper Nile State, on February 25 to confirm the new Episcopalian bishop there. ¶5. Abel Alier, former vice president of the republic, was in Juba to conduct a series of high-level meetings. ¶6. The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) Council of Ministers failed to meet this week due to a lack of quorum. It plans to try again next week when Nhial Deng returns from Egypt and ministers Michael Makuai, David Deng, and Albino Akol are present. ¶7. Under Secretary of Cooperative and Rural Development Bortel Mori told CG Juba officials that the first job of the ministry will be to map all the water access points in the south and determine where new bore holes are needed. Future goals include organizing and training farm cooperatives, providing micro-financing to rural entrepreneurs, and buying trucks to help farmers get their goods to market. Mori said the greatest threats to rural development were landmines, disease, sanitation, and transportation challenges. HUME