Jonglei governor sacks Duk county commissioner

May 21, 2015 (BOR) – The caretaker governor of South Sudan’s Jonglei state, John Kong Nyuon has sacked the Duk county commissioner, Akech Deng.

In the past, however, Deng has been accused of allegedly threatening aid agencies operating in Duk, and taking sides on issues between the Dinka Hol and Nyarweng.

The Catholic Relief Service (CRS), in a 25 May letter, accused the ex-commissioner of allegedly interfering in their operations and demanded that immediate action be taken.

“The Duk commissioner leads an NGO [non-governmental organisation] called Wundeng Wings of Hope which he is promoting in the county and in Juba, using his position and powers as a Jonglei state government official; he tried to compel JFSP [Jonglei Food Security Programme] to hand over control of beneficiary registration and the distribution of food and NFIs [non-food items] to his NGO, although he has been told repeatedly that donor regulations on accountability forbid CRS complying with this instruction”, partly reads CRS’s letter a source extended to Sudan Tribune.

The JFSP is currently implementing services in nine of Jonglei’s 11 counties.

Duk county was, however, included in the extension programme last year.

Since the country’s crisis, CRS has been the only organisation with staff on the ground, providing food and non-food support to the conflict populations from July 2014.

CRS, in the letter, claimed the former commissioner did not support their work, further alleging that the latter wanted JFSP resources diverted to the local NGO he founded.

In March this year, Deng terminated services of the Relief and Rehabilitation coordinator of the county on the grounds that he did not support in his push to acquire food and none-food items brought in to the county by CRS and World Food Program for his NGO.

Sudan Tribune could not independently verify claims against the former commissioner.

(ST)