Gov’t spokesman says escalating ethnic, communal violence ‘not new’

JUBA, JANUARY 8^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan’s information minister and government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth has described the ongoing escalation in ethnic and communal violence across the country as something that is “not new” but said the government is trying its best to bring the conflicts to halt.

Makuei was speaking to journalists on Friday following the first cabinet meeting of the year in Juba where the important ministerial meeting also approved a national policy on occupational safety and health, a first-ever policy that seeks to protect a worker’s right to a safe working environment in the country.

Makuei said ethnic and communal violence has been in the country for a while and said that no one should be surprised and said the government is working to bring the conflicts to an end so that communities live side-by-side in peace.

“These conflicts are not new; they have been coming up now and then. So, in this particular situation, the government is trying its level best to ensure that such events are brought to a halt or controlled and that people live and stay together,” he said.

“We are trying our level best to make sure that peace prevails in those areas which are affected by the conflict,” he added.

The senior government official further said that government ministers have been asked to complete and achieve their responsibilities in the newly-extended transitional period.

“The Minister of Cabinet Affairs on the implementation of the roadmap, he appealed to the ministers and requested them that each ministry should find out in the roadmap where its role is and start implementing that responsibility,” he said.

Makuei further said that the new national policy on occupational safety approved by the cabinet during the same meeting will regulate the environment and safety of employees at their workplaces in various sectors of the state.

“If you are working, your workplace must be a conducive atmosphere, a healthy atmosphere to work that area should be clean, should not be polluted and also there are other diseases which are contracted in the course of employment in some ministries and institutions,” he said.

“All these are provided for in safety in the place of work. For example, the ministry of roads should have a conducive environment for officials or for the employees of the sector who are working there. They ought to be healthy because a healthy mind is in a healthy body, and if you are healthy, you will be able to produce more,” he added.