Nok Jiek Mok, 70 being pushed on paid wheelbarrow from Rupjiech to Nyony on August 27th, 2023 - Leer, Photo Ruot George

Nok Jiek Mok is a 70-year-old grandmother often transported on a wheelbarrow for medical follow-up in flood-devastated Unity State.

Nok who is from Mayiandit County has been blind and deaf and has been suffering from old-age sickness for the last six years.

Nyaleek Gatdeet Maan is a 38-year-old caretaker of an elderly mother whose children left Unity State after war broke out in the area in 2016.

She describes the current situation of her relative Nok as “a teste of faith”, Nok was being pulled on a wheelbarrow from Leer’s Rupjiech area to Nyony village.

“She has been blind and deaf for the last six years and can be transported on a wheelbarrow for medical attention if a need a raised,” Nyaleek said.

Nyaleek says the problem she is handling is too much to bear as the immediate children of her distant relatives left for an unknown destination when war broke out in Leer between 2015 and 2016.”

She added that “according to information we received, the children of Mrs. Nok died during the wars and her grandchildren fled to Sudan.”

“We have lived together now for six years and her situation has been the same,” she said.

“We live in a family house in Nyony. We only fled to Leer during the events of war [ in April 2022]. we have spent nearly two years there in Leer.”

In 2019 the metrological centre in the Eastern African regional bloc – the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – IGAD predicted that serious climatic changes would involve adverse environmental conditions.

It says the environmental impact including drought and flooding in different countries in the East and Horn of Africa coming that year and said it would have more impacts than normal.

South Sudan, the youngest Nation in the world which was already affected by post-independence brutal war was affected by flooding.

Eight of the country’s ten states were controlled by the roaming water.

Unity State which is entirely located in the Sudd Wetland was generally submerged in the water with only Rupkona and Bentiu towns protected with large dykes by the state government and the UN agencies.

According to the United Nations report published in 2022, more than 95% of the land masses in Unity State is in water.

Every single dry highland was occupied with shelter.

The state government with support from the UN migration agency, the International Organisation for Migration – IOM have constructed another large dyke enclosing the protection of civilians site managed by the UN Mission in South Sudan.

The site hosts more than 120,000 persons according to data tracking monitoring of the humanitarian organisations.

In April 2022, war broke out in the Mirmir Cantonment site in the neighboring Koch County which quickly speeded into Leer County. Many people were beheaded and women gang raped.

According to multiple reports last year, many swamp areas were torched, and people were burned alive.

The commissioners of Koch and Mayiandit counties were accused of leading armed civilians who committed atrocities in Leer but they denied any wrongdoing.

Condition of Road in Leer and Mayiandit

Nyaleek says after spending two years in Leer’s Rupjiech residential area, she said they are now returning home to Nyony after the clearance of bushes was completed and security is said to be calm.

She revealed that using the wheelbarrow to transport an elderly mother was the only option they could do because “there are no men in the family to carry her on their shoulders” adding that “it cost her 3,000 South Sudan Pounds to hire the wheelbarrow to Nyony”, a distance of 5kms

“We are returning home after clearing the bushes, we were told the security situation has improved and that we can go back to our house. This is why we are going now,” said Nyaleek.

“Her children left her after war broke out in 2013 and all of them have died because of wars her grandsons are in the border town of Kerathan [Southern Korodufan State in Sudan].”

“She had four grandsons one of them died last year unfortunately, we don’t have direct communication with them but we hear about them through one of our relatives who lives in Juba,” she said.

“We once got connections on the phone with one of the boys. He promised to call us back but now it’s two months without getting any connection with him.”

Bentiu – Leer road passes through Guit, Koch and Mayiandit Counties. The road is currently impassable because it was submerged by flooding.

Local people have to trek on foot for three to four days from Bentiu to the counties or those who have money use boats.

After war broke out in neighbouring Sudan in April 2023, commodities crossing to South Sudan have stopped.

Traders hired women to carry their goods from Adok to Leer town and proceed to Mayiandit County.

Each porter is paid 11,000 South Sudanese pounds to carry a minimum of 35 Kg of sugar or other commodities Leer.

Tang Kueth Biel, who operates Nile Junction Hotel in Leer town says there are many challenges facing their business but commits to save the community as a personal responsibility to attract others to come back home.

The national government in Juba has never presented any meaningful program to fight the flooding in Unity State, however, the council of ministers meeting in 2021 endorsed the clearance of Naam River.

The plan is to reduce the roaming water that has killed people and livestock in Unity State but the program has seen a very sharp criticism with the public sharply divided.

However last year, communities of Unity State led by former defence minister Madam Angelina Teny and Tut Gatluak Manime organised a fundraising in Juba to help the state government construct a dyke in Bentiu and in the seven counties.

The move united the politicians of Unity State from their differing political camps for the first time since the outbreak of war in South Sudan in December 2013 and July 2016.

The clearance of Naam started in August 2023, The governor of Unity State Dr. Joseph Manytuil and Professor John Akech, the vice chancellor of the University of Juba exchanged bitter words over the ongoing clearance in Unity State’s Naam River in Juba.

Dr Akec wondered what Egypt and the Unity State government wanted and cautioned that Naam is the lifeline of the people of South Sudan.

“The process started in Wau and it continued up to Sudd, people were concerned because there was no clear project, there was no environmental assessment, and it was not clear what Egypt wanted from it,” said Akec.

“One way they say it was fighting the flood, in the other way they say it’s for transportation.  The Ministry of Transportation doesn’t know about it. If it was fighting the flood, the Ministry of Environment was not,” he said.

“It was fully under the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, and a lot of equipment was brought in June for massive excavation for that.”

“There was suspicion that what they needed was the channelization and the deepening of the rivers and straightening them to allow the fast flow of the water with no thought about the consequences on the storage ability”

“Governor Manytuil knows that all the 12 million people depend on it not only the people of Unity State. Monytuil also knows that river Naam is a key to this.” Akech concluded.

In response, Governor Monytuil says that the people of Bentiu have suffered enough and can’t longer wait for the clearance to be delayed for a day.

“Our people have been dying for the last four years, we lost very dear lives, they lost their livestock and their livelihood has totally changed. The population has turned into vulnerable communities on humanitarian assistance because of the flood.”

Manytuil expressed his disappointment over the comments on social media insulting the people of Unity State saying

“We thought the suffering of people of Unity state would concern the other parts of the country.”

“We have been seeing a lot of insulting comments on social media and thought when one part of this country is suffering, the other part [of the country] would be very much concerned.”

“The lives of the people of Unity State professor matters a lot. If clearance is going to save the lives of our people, let it be, why not?”

However, Vice President Dr. James Wani urged all government ministers in Juba to defend resolutions approving the clearance to reduce flooding in Unity.

“The issue of cooperation, I admit. The issue was blown up also by the Ministry of Environment. if it’s true that your ministry was not consulted by the Ministry of Water then that was unfortunate and wrong,” VP Wani said.

“But there is one thing which I know all resolutions of the cabinet before they go to the cabinet, they first come to the cluster.”

“The late minister Manawa, went to the governance cluster which has more ministers but because he belongs to my cluster, he also came to the economic cluster and we digest this with a lot of papers and with lots of data some of which I did not see here.”

“It was simply scientific. Maybe he did not have time to tell people I also used scientists.”

“We were satisfied at the level of the cluster and we took this to the level of the cabinet and the cabinets were satisfied.”

“Any minister trying to jump out from a resolution of a council of ministers is being wrong because according to our regulations as ministers, even if you are against it in the hall by the time you come out, you must stand and defend that resolution.”

Disclaimer.

This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development [USAID]. The contents are the responsibility of Ruot George and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.