Warrap Women’s Association rebukes voices agitating for removal of state governor

By Ngor Arol Garang

December 3, 2011 (JUBA) – A Warrap women’s association has criticised state MPs who are agitating for the removal of state governor, Nyandeng Malek, claiming the reasons cited were not convincing.

Lela Musa, the Warrap Women Association chairperson told Sudan Tribune Saturday that her association rejects attempts by the state legislative assembly to unseat the governor, arguing that reasons brought forward by the parliament were either unclear or mixed with personal grudges and self interest.

“As women we stand together with members of parliament in advocating for delivery of basic services to our people including fighting against poverty and diseases but the way the assembly tried to politicise administrative challenges to the extent of seeking removal of the state governor was not clear and unconstitutional”, Musa told Sudan Tribune.

In September the Warrap parliament attempted to oust governor Malek, saying she was unable to govern the state and had failed to cooperate with parliament. More specifically the MPs said she was responsible for rampant insecurity, and the failure to acknowledge the existence of hunger in the state, which MPs say resulted in the deaths of 358 people, most of whom had recently returned to South Sudan from the north.

Malek is also accused of ordering the arrest and beating of a local MP who opposed her – an allegation she immediately and strongly denied. An investigation committee headed by the security advisor, formed in September to investigate the incident, has still not released its findings.

Musa said there was no evidence showing the governor had authorised the arrest. She also added that the general security situation in Warrap is far better compared to the neighbouring State of Western Bahr el Ghazal.

Ater K. Thiep, a state MP representing Gogrial East Country told Sudan Tribune that he holds no personal grudges with the state governor but was obliged by his position to speak about public issues which requires attention of the state government under the leadership of Nyandeng Malek.

He said that some people were under the false understanding that MPs had a personal grudge when opposing the governor or highlighting issues to the executive.

“Some people have started pointing fingers at us as people who do not want governor simply because they see us talks about issues the public want her to address and claimed that we are doing it so because we were not appointed into her cabinet or on assumptions that we are fighting her removal on behalf of some of her critics. These are all assumptions based on wrong interpretation”, Thiep told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

Agany Chan, a native of Warrap State in Juba, said that he believed the issues MPs had with with the state governor had nothing to do with personal grudges.

“I know governor Nyandeng is sitting on a hot pot, especially at this time when expectations of our people are high and the resources are limited but being overwhelmed with limited resources is one thing but to deliberately deny existence of hunger was clear ignorance of her roles as governor,” Chan remarked.

However, he said some MPs had taken advantage of her failure to accept the prevalence of hunger in the area and used it to justify their demands for her removal.

“In politics, people occupying political positions like her seat should always expect critics would take advantage of any mistake for their political scores. This is what has happened in the case of Warrap.”

He said that Malek should have requested humanitarian aid to respond to the food shortages in some areas and among returnees. Chan said he did not believe that the calls for her removal were in any way related to her gender.

As South Sudan’s only female state governor, Malek has been under sustained pressure to step down from local MPs, despite security and the humanitarian situation in Warrap arguably being better than Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile.

“She would have been criticised for these failure even if she were a male. As a citizen of Warrap, I understand the situation better than citizens from other states but to deliberately deny the reality is despicable and irresponsible on her part. I think governor Nyandeng would have done exactly what her critics are doing if someone [else] was [in] her position”, he explained.

(ST)