Jonglei governor appoints deputy, ministers and advisors
February 19, 2016 (JUBA) — The governor of South Sudan’s newly created state of Jonglei, Col. Philip Aguer has appointed his deputy, two ministers and an advisor.
The former commissioner of Bor county, Agot Alier Leek was appointed state legal advisor. All the officials appointed hail from Bor county in South Sudan’s Jonglei state.
Jonglei was divided into Western Bieh, Eastern Bieh and Boma states in a decree , which South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir publicly issued in October last year.
The governor did not, however, indicate when he would appoint other ministers, majoritu of whom are expected to hail from Twic and Duk counties. A speaker of the state assembly, currently held by Peter Deng Aguer who comes from Twic East county is to be appointed from Duk county as part of an agreed power sharing deal between counties.
Aguer’s attempt to appoint a member of the armed opposition as his deput reportedly met stiff resistance from Bor leaders who dismissed the move as being unnecessary.
According to the peace agreement signed in August 2015 between government of President Kiir and former vice president, Riek Machar, Jonglei was one of the states where the opposition would appoint a deputy governor and 40% of the executives.
MIXED REACTIONS
The new appointments got mixed reactions public, with many questioning why old faces appeared in cabinet, yet it was an opportunity for new ones.
“We did not want to see former ministers coming back again this time [because] they never did anything good in the past”, Daniel Deng Bol, a teacher, told Sudan Tribune.
“The ministry of education would not survive this time, we wanted a positive chance, but now that Suzan Lith is brought in, she will not do things that would favour us as teachers of this state”, he continued.
Others, however, argued that the new governor should have appointed people who were not members of the state legislative assembly.
Some residents also blamed the governor for appointing Ayom to head the finance ministry, yet the post favoured close allies from Twic East county.
All the new appointees were from Bor county, while the remaining positions, including five other ministerial positions, are to be taken up by qualified and trusted individuals from Duk and Twic East counties.
(ST)