N. Bahr el Ghazal parliament endorses 15 member cabinet
July 12, 2012 (AGOK) – Northern Bahr el Ghazal parliament on Thursday said it unanimously endorsed the 15 member cabinet appointed by the state governor, Paul Malong Awan, a week after the house saw six of its members losing their party memberships.
The letter carries the signatures of deputy secretary general of the country’s SPLM, Anne Ito. The dismissed members contested the termination of their memberships, claiming that they had not received enough warning.
Kuac Wek Wol, a former minister of education in the state on Wednesday told Sudan Tribune from Aweil town, capital of the state, that he is among those members whose memberships have been terminated without following clear constitutional procedures. Wol added that they were again on July 11, served with letters asking them to surrender any property belonging to the party.
have lost membership of the party. Their dismissal preceded that of
They were also told not to attend any parliamentary session since they speaker Aguer Wol Aguer from the assembly leadership, a decision he rejected and wrote an objection letter to speaker of the council of States at the central government seeking intervention. The house also passed a resolution rejecting dismissal of the speaker by the party.
On July 9, Aguer told Sudan Tribune he was denied a chance to address an occasion marking the first anniversary of South Sudan’s independence.
He said organisers made his deputy speak on behalf of the house as acting speaker while he was present.
Achak Thiep Thiep, a member of the house among the six dismissed members equally claimed he was denied an opportunity to speak at an occasion marking the same anniversary in his home county of Aweil west, allegedly because the country authorities had received instructions from deputy governor not to allow him and other members to hold any meeting in the area.
“I was denied an opportunity to speak at the independence celebrations because organisers said they were instructed by the executive director that he had instructions from deputy governor not allow us to hold any meeting in the area”, Thiep told Sudan Tribune on July 9, from Aweil town, capital of the state.
However, speaker Aguer on Thursday said he was allowed to chair a parliamentary session which endorsed list of the new cabinet members presented to the house by the state governor Awan.
“It was a unanimous vote. The house endorsed the names of the cabinet members appointed by the governor today. I was the one chairing the session”, Aguer told Sudan Tribune.“This is what we need to do. We are members of the same party so we should cooperate”.
“We need to work together as team and not as two separate institutions. If we work together we will do a lot of things as members of one government”, he added. The top legislator said has never refused to work together with the state governor and his cabinet. “We really need to work together. This is what I have always emphasised. Unity is power,” he said.
(ST)