Could Telar Deng be under political witch-hunt?
By Mapuor Malual Manguen
August 10, 2013 – The Minister of Justice designate, Hon. Telar Ring Deng has failed the vetting test early this week. The eleven-member select vetting committee set up by the National Legislative Assembly to vet names of 20 ministers and ten deputy ministers appointed on July 31, 2013 by President Kiir presented a list of 18 Ministers they cleared minus Telar Ring Deng. This prevented him from taking oath of office with his colleagues on Wednesday August 7, 2013. Consequently, the Ministry of Justice still have no Minister on the date of writing this article.
The official website of Government, goss.org, reported that the approval of the nominations of Telar Ring Deng as the minister for Justice and Josephine Napwon Cosmos as the deputy minister for Youth, Culture and Sports was however left pending as the concerned parliamentary committee sought more time to clarify some issues about them. Integrity and the degree of competence were some of the criteria used by the lawmakers to vet the nominated ministers.
Telar Ring Deng is not new with such tribulations. On the 3rd of December 2007, the Chairman of the party, President Kiir Mayardit dismissed and expelled Telar Ring along with his colleague, Minister of Interior and Wildlife Conservation Hon. Aleu Ayieny from the ranks and files of the SPLM based on recommendations of an SPLM disciplinary committee. The two were investigated on charges of violating the SPLM vision, morals and regulations. However, the two were reinstated on the 28th of August 2009 after they buried hatchet with President. Ever since, Telar Ring became closest ally of President Kiir Mayaridit.
President Kiir warmed him up as caretaker governor of Lakes State prior to general elections of 2010. Barely three months at the helm, had he delivered enviable services to citizens of his state and proved his critics wrong. President Kiir later on in the same year handed him a slot of Legal Advisor to the Presidency, a position he held up to August 2, 2013. He is believed to be liberal minded.
He then proved to be one of a few very powerful figures close to the Statehouse. He has been blame for some of tough decisions taken by President Kiir including recent swift reshuffle of national government where 33 ministers and deputy ministers plus Vice President were sacked. Only five of old faces made a surprise comeback. Interestingly though, almost all these immediate former ministers are Members of Parliament. They may have ambushed Telar Ring Deng in the National Assembly for tit for tat affair.
One South Sudanese commentator argued on his Facebook page that there are conspiracy theories surrounding his (Telar) exclusion from approved list, including his academic credentials, his alleged confrontational politics which earned him many political nemeses; and indeed his manipulating energy of the Presidency to score political points.
Mr. Telar Ring Deng is said to have graduated with BA in Anthropology and Political Science from New York State University in 1981. He later joined Buckingham University and graduated with LLB in 1994. He pursued master program in the same institution with LLM specializing in Commercial Laws and graduated in 1995. If these credentials are anything to go by, the question of his failure to meet academic qualification could be a farce in the side of vetting committee.
Nevertheless, I cann’t be certain about all this argument. But equally, no one can downplay anything of this debate either because in Juba, everything starts as a rumor or later on becomes a reality.
So, did Mr. Telar Ring Deng really failed to meet vetting criteria or was it just a witch-hunt? Only time and Juba rumor mongers will tell the trust as Justice Ministry remains vacant.
The author is journalist and columnist based in Juba. He can be reached at [email protected]