Kiir dismisses James Kok Ruea from parliament, names replacement  

JUBA – South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has dismissed James Kok Ruea from the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) on the ticket of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).

This comes after the opposition official resigned from the SPLM-IO led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny and declared allegiance to the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement faction led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

In a presidential decree read on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Cooperation (SSBC) on Wednesday, Kiir revoked the membership of James Kok, who was appointed to the R-TNLA on the ticket of SPLM-IO.

Kok was replaced by Pei Nyawela Bol, who is a member of SPLM-IO from Jonglei State.

Mr Kok, who hails from Fangak County, Jonglei State, resigned from the SPLM-IO and joined the SPLM-IG under President Kiir last week.

Speaking to the press last week, James Kok said the SPLM-IO had lost its vision to bring change to the country under the leadership of the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar.

But Machar’s allies have dismissed James Kok Ruea’s claims saying he is known for defecting from group to group.

SPLA-IO spokesman also told reporters, according to the City Review, that those defecting from the party are bribed by the ruling SPLM party to join them because the SPLM-IO is unable to provide the defectors with what the SPLM offers them.

“We call it ‘‘sponsored defections’’ because you are promised money, you are promised a vehicle, you are promised resources, and then you say, “I am not getting money here, I am not receiving anything, so what do I do?” When you move to the other side, you are given the money and you complain that we don’t have the resources,” Lam said.

“So the SPLA-IO condemns this act of sponsored defection and we are looking forward to seeing changes in the implementation of security arrangements. We are also asking our peace partners to reconsider this move that is being done to jeopardise the peace agreement,” he added.