Kiir summons Governor Manytuil over Mayom extrajudicial killings

JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit this week summoned Unity State Governor Nguen Manytuil Wejang over the recent extrajudicial killing of at least four opposition commanders allied to General Stephen Buay Rolnyang at Kaikang, a village in northern parts of Mayom County.

In July, rebel forces belonging to South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A) led by Gen. Buay attacked Mayom County and assassinated the commissioner, Maj. Gen. Chuol Gatluak Manimeh, the elder brother of the presidential security advisor Tut Gatluak Manimeh.

The rebel forces also attacked a South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) convoy transporting food and ammunition to Mayom where the army would launch an offensive against rebels to apprehend the killers of Mayom Commissioner.

After several days of fighting in remote villages of Mayom, four senior rebel commanders including Brig. Gen. Gatluak Majiok, the alleged mastermind of Mayom attack, fled to Sudan where they were arrested by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) before their deportation to South Sudan where they were executed.

Three senior officers including two major-generals were executed by firing squad, according to a footage seen by Sudans Post, while Gatluak Majiok was handcuffed and then burn alive inside a hurt in the same way Mayom commissioner died.

The killed sparked domestic and international uproar with rights groups urging the government to conduct investigation and bring to justice the people responsible for the extrajudicial killing who have so far remained at large.

In a statement, the presidency said Kiir summoned the Unity State governor and met him to discuss the incident of the extrajudicial killing.

“President Salva Kiir Mayardit met Hon. Joseph Nguen Monytuil, the Governor of Unity State whom he summoned to explain the incident that happened in Mayom County, Unity State that led to extrajudicial killings,” the statement by the presidency read in part.

The governor, the statement said, “explained to the President the two incidents where Mayom County Commissioner Gen. James Chuol Gatluak was killed which led to the killings of the suspects without due process.”

Manytuil further “briefed the President on the humanitarian situation in Unity State, noting that the area has been affected by floods since last year, which led to the displacement of considerable number of people who are now in dire need of humanitarian assistance,” the statement added.

Presidential affairs minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said in statements to the media that “President Salva Kiir Mayardit summoned the Governor of Unity State to explain directly the incidents that happened in Mayom County.”

He added that “South Sudan is a Country with rules and Laws empathizing that the law should take its course in such situations.”