Kiir disappointed by differences between state executive, directs for cooperation

JUBA – South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has wrote to all governors of the country’s ten states expressing disappointment over reported differences between governors and their deputies and directed all of the governors to cooperate in accordance with the revitalized peace agreement.

Last month, SPLM-IO-nominated governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal state Sarah Cleto Hassan Rial and his deputy who was nominated by the SPLM-IG led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit had disagreement causing disappointment at the presidency.

The same differences are reported in the country’s Upper Nile state forcing President Salva Kiir to write to the governors directing for cooperation. Find below the full text letter.

 

Republic of South Sudan

The President

RSS/OP/J/1.A.1                                                                                                                12″ April 2021.

All the Governors,

The ten (10) States of the Republic of South Sudan.

Subject: Cooperation and Collegial Governance of the State Government

Dear Comrades,

It is nearly a month since the completion of the establishment of the State Executive organs of the ten (10) States of our Country, I want to take this special opportunity to congratulate you all for winning the confidence of your party to become the Governor of your state under the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU). By the same token, I congratulate each and every member of your state executive for their appointment to whatever role entrusted to them by their respective party to serve our people.

You all know that in December, 2013, we drafted off lane and dragged our country into an unnecessary war just two years after gaining our hard earned independence on the 9th July, 2011. That infamous incident is the most hurting in our history as a liberator and I am sure some of you, if not all of you, must be feeling the same way.

The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), is a politically difficult agreement. Right from the beginning of the High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF), we foresaw that achieving peace under the prevaling political conditions was going tobe a real test requiring our collective resolve to stop the war and return our country to peace and stability and come to prosperity. But still, I encouraged my negotiation team to negotiate in good faith and bring peace at any cost. Subsequently, signed the peace agreement, though apprehensive of challenges in its implementation.

My dear compatriots, the R-ARCSS is our recommitment, as parties to the agreement, to the content and context of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011. It is our recommitment to the values we enshrined in our post-independence constitution aiming to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law’. As your President, all of you regardless of your political affiliation, I direct you to comply and implement the agreement regardless of your political or ethnic differences.

All of you should aspire to return peace to our people and deliver services as a team. learned with disappointment that some of our states are already experiencing difficulties because of poor cooperation and high trust deficit between the Governor and his/her Deputy or between members of the same government. That is very unfortunate and unacceptable. All of you must know that you are members of one government serving one people in the state. As members of one government, you must respect each other, comply with the required protocol and uphold standard governance procedures.

When the state government was being planned, the decision for the state authorities to appoint the Secretary General of the Government, the Mayor and Deputies to the Mayor was deliberately taken because appointments to these positions are guided by law, rules and regulations. The position of the Secretary General, for instance, is a civil service position that must be occupied on the basis of merit, not political affiliation. Similarly, selection to the position of a Mayor or Deputy Mayor is guided by the Local Government Act..

In both cases, I expect dialogue and consensus between the Governor and his/her Deputy, in their capacity as the top leadership of the concerned state. If the two fail to reach consensus, they are expected to refer the matter to the Principals of their respective Political Parties for an amicable solution. None of these appointments should provoke serious political differences of the type brought to my attention, recently which stir up insecurity and inter-communal violence.

Therefore, I am writing this letter for you to reconsider and redress any challenges encountered in the appointment of the Secretary General of your government, Mayor or Deputies Mayor in your state. This letter also calls upon all the members of your state executive to work together as one team to implement the peace agreement and to deliver services you are able to afford to our people. You must operate as members of one government, respect yourselves and protocols irrespective of your political affiliation.

Finally, I direct you to entirely comply with what I have written in this letter and share it with all the members of your state executive. I expect full cooperation from all of you to ensure peaceful co-existence, good governance and the return of security to the state.

Salva Kiir Mayardit,

President,

Republic of South Sudan.

Cc:

• First Vice President of the Republic
• All Vice Presidents
• Presidential Advisor on Security Members of the National and State Governments Establishment Committee
• All Heads of Political Parties.