W. Bahr el Ghazal governor slams allegations of interference

September 18, 2014 (WAU) – The governor of South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal state, Rizik Zackaria Hassan, has dismissed criticism directed at him over his handling of the budget and interference in parliamentary affairs.

The speaker of the legislative assembly, Andrea Mayar Acho, made the comments at a press conference on Monday.

Acho said told the media the pair’s differences stemmed from the governor’s attempts to exert control over the state budget and his decision to turn down a vote of no confidence against the finance minister.

However, Hassan denied he had unduly interfered assembly matters.

“Yes, the state government have right to interfere in the assembly’s affairs if other developments in the assembly were taking the members through any crisis,” he said.

As state assembly matters lie within the jurisdiction of the Council of States, Hassan said an invitation had been extended to the council in Juba, to address the assembly’s vote of no confidence in the finance minister.

He said the state assembly had since withdrawn its resolution after the council found it had failed to follow appropriate procedures as stipulated under article 114 (3) of the state’s transitional constitution and article 75 (II) (III) of the business regulations

In June, the committee also recommended that Acho should cooperate with the governor on matters of state interest.

(ST)