Sudan opposition group sacks two officials, appoints new leader
January 4, 2023 (NAIROBI) – A South Sudanese opposition movement has sacked two of its senior officials and appointed a new interim chairperson.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the leadership council of South Sudan National Movement for Change (SSNMC) announced that it had removed Alex Yatta and Wesley Kosa from all assignments of the group.
The opposition movement also said it had appointed Kwaje Lasu as the Interim Chairperson of SSNMC, following the abrupt resignation and cessation of leadership by former chairman, Vakindi Unvu in October 2021.
SSNMC, in the statement extended to Sudan Tribune, said the manner in which Unvu resigned did not afford SSNMC a smooth leadership transition.
“The appointment of the chairman would have been organized and conducted by the SSNMC Leadership Council, also known as the Core Group, which consists of the founding members and serves as the highest decision-making body within the SSNMC/A,” partly reads the statement.
Following the ex-chairperson’s resignation, SSNMC said numerous attempts were made to amicably resolve this leadership crisis and through dialogue.
“Unfortunately, members of the executive team, Mr. Alex Yatta and Mr. Wesley Kosa, who were recruited as state leaders and later promoted to the executive team did not accept and embrace this decision and instead sought to challenge and discredit the authority and legitimacy of the Leadership Council in making this appointment,” SSNMC further noted.
It added, “To safeguard the integrity of the SSNMC, the Leadership Council accepted advice from party elders to mediate and resolve the crisis, unfortunately, the crisis remained intractable and unresolved throughout 2022.”
The group claimed the leadership Council of South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance’s (SSOMA) attempt to mediate in its leadership crisis did not resolve the internal struggles within the hold-out opposition movement.
“To ensure SSMNC remained a strong and an effective member of the Alliance, SSOMA volunteered to mediate to a help resolve the crisis. After numerous mediation meetings, SSOMA-LC, on the 18th of September 2022, recommended that SSNMC should resolve the crisis through its internal processes,” further noted the statement.
(ST)