Women call for Minister Peter Mayen’s dismissal as justice for ‘battered’ Aluel Messi

Things fall apart at Peter Mayen’s camp as scores of women took to the streets and marched Monday to demand Mayen’s immediate dismissal as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.

As Edna Buchan puts it; “If not for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all.” That explains Aluel Messi’s misfortune in the hands of her the man, she was meant to live with for the rest of her life in good and bad times.

Nicknamed after football star Messi, the young woman’s alleged assault by her husband Peter Mayen, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is the reason dozens of Women intellectuals, activists, and human rights defenders gathered at the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare to condemn the act.

They accuse Mayen of beating, stabbing, wounding, torturing, and holding Aluel Messi hostage in his house in Kuajok town without access to medical care or her parents, relatives and friends.

This inhuman and degrading treatment of Aluel Messi is what has sent things south in Mayen’s camp as these women sought for the stripping off of his ministerial position with immediate effect.

Jackeline Naziwa, the Executive Director of the Centre for Inclusive Government Peace and Justices (CIGPJ) who read the petition condemned Mayen’s barbaric and brutal act of forceful attempt to remove Aluel Messi from an ongoing football match in the South Sudanese Women League in Aweil earlier in May, violently disrupting the match and denying her the opportunity to pursue her career in sports and work.

“We call upon the President Salva Kiir to immediately dismiss Peter Mayen from serving as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management for his gross misconduct as a public official, violent assault, torture and abuse of rights of his wife Aluel Messi,” Nasiwa said.

Article 2.1.10.2 of the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan requires parties to refrain from acts and forms of sexual and gender-based violence, sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse; which are also prohibited actions of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access (CoHA) of 21st December 2017.

Doru Josephine Pitia who works with the South Sudan Women Empowerment Network said she came out to protest against increasing violence against women.

“As a woman, if you put yourself in Aluel’s shoes, it’s really so bad and is against human rights,” Josephine said.

“We feel everyone should be treated with respect and should be given freedom. We came together to help Aluel come out of whatever (pain) she’s going through.”

Sarah Abeja of the Women International Peace Centre said although the march was for Aluel, it was also for all the women suffering from Gender Based Violence in South Sudan.

“We have laws, even in the peace agreement highlighting the issue of GBV but still the people (like Peter Mayen) who drafted and signed the agreement as stakeholders are the ones violating the agreement,” Abeja told The Insider.

The protesters urged Rebecca Nyandeng to establish an independent committee to investigate Mayen’s actions for possible trial before a competent court of law and ensure the safety and protection of Aluel Messi from further violence by Peter Mayen.

“The Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (should) immediately table the Anti-Gender Based Violence bill before the reconstituted Revitalized Transitional National Legislature for adoption,” Naziwa said.

“It’s important that the government takes immediate action because this is a case that has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We have seen the pictures, we have heard the testimonies and Aluel is still (being kept) captive in Mayen’s house (in Kuajok town),” Grace Aguil, one of the women who marched for Aluel Messi revealed to The Insider.

“We speak for the women of South Sudan who have had enough of domestic violence and gender violence. We ask them (government) to dismiss Peter Mayen and save Aluel and bring justice to Aluel Messi,” Aguil added.

Florence Nelson, a GBV specialist says Mayen’s treatment of his wife only makes women more insecure in the hands of South Sudanese men.

“Mayen is the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, he should be the example to men out there. But now that he’s showing a bad example, of course, so many other men will follow,” Ms. Nelson said.

“In South Sudan, there’s so much violence. We face so much violence in the hands of men and now we feel we are not safe anywhere in South Sudan or even being handled by a South Sudanese man,” she added.

The Minister of Gender, Child Social Welfare Aya Benjamine Warile promised to investigate Aluel’s case and forward the issue to Rebecca Nyandeng Garang, the Vice President for Gender Cluster.

Aluel Messi is one of the few female footballers who is an icon and inspiration to many young women with talents in sports and leadership. She was the captain of the Aweil Women football team before her marriage to Peter Mayen. Her absence from the team meant the Aweil Women team could only manage a bottom table position in the Women’s League.