South Sudan’s Kiir revokes dismissal of senior SPLM officials
June 3, 201e5 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese leader, Salva Kiir has unconditionally revoked an executive order, which earlier dismissed senior members of the country’s ruling party (SPLM).
The president, in the order announced on SSTV, also dismissed the former Unity state governor, Taban Deng as well as former environment minister, Alfred Lado Gore.
The dismissed officials were accused of orchestrating the December 2013 outbreak of violence, which saw thousands killed and millions displaced.
However, Akol Paul Kordit, a member of the SPLM political bureau, said the South Sudanese leader, in his capacity as the ruling party chairman, revoked that dismissal of the senior officials.
The move, he said, was part of the implementation of the resolutions of the meeting held with an advance team of the former political detainees on Tuesday. Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy chairman of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) attended the meeting held in the capital, Juba.
“All the previous decisions dismissing some members of the SPLM have been revoked in accordance with the Arusha reunification union. All the bank accounts of the former detainees have been unfrozen,” Kordit told reporters in Juba on Wednesday.
“They [former detainees] are free to leave and return to the country as ordinary citizens anytime they want. We have agreed to work together as one family,” he added.
Kordit said the ruling party’s political bureau also resolved that the armed opposition leader be re-instated back to his position as first deputy chairperson of the SPLM.
“We have agreed to recommit ourselves to reunifying the party so that we all take the party and the country forward and embark on reconciliation and healing process”, he said.
Meanwhile, the advance team of the country’s former political detainees disclosed that they would soon travel to meet rebel leader Machar and of his group on a separate trip.
“We have a team that also will proceed to meet Dr. Riek Machar wherever he is,” John Luk Jok, a former justice minister told reporters in Juba on Wednesday.
(ST)