Machar didn’t use official means to channel directives on Aweil West payams dispute – NBGS governor

JUBA – The office of the governor of South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal state has denied defying directives from the office of the country’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny saying recent directive concerning two payams of Aweil West County was not submitted by the First Vice President to his office official and was instead posted on Facebook.

Senior members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny have been accusing the governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state Tong Akeen Ngor of attempts to annex two Payams of Ajuet and Chimel to Aweil town from Aweil West County.

The two payams have been parts of the Aweil West County since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended Sudan’s second civil war between the then Islamists government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/ Army( SPLM/A).

When President Salva Kiir established 32 States, the two areas were curved from Aweil West County and annexed to the defunct Aweil State but after the revitalized peace agreement of 2018, the country reverted to the 10 states and there have since been tensions ever since the Riek Machar led SPLM-IO was allocated the gubernatorial administration of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.

The issue of the administrative boundaries caused First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, to order Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Tong Akeen Ngor in a letter dated 31 October 2021 to allow the areas to report back to Aweil West County.

But the office of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state governor is claiming that Machar’s office has only posted the directive on social media without following official channels for submissions of such important documents.

“Honorable Governor Tong Akeen Ngor noted with a great concern about unauthentic information circulating on social media and other news platforms regarding the issue of Ajuet and Chimel (Mariem East and Mariem West Payam respectively) of Aweil West County that wrongly accused the Governor of defying the directives written by the First Vice President H. E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny on Sunday, 31^st of October 2021 as well as mobilizing the two Communities of Ajuet and Chimel to demonstrate against the directives of the Ist Vice President,” Akeen’s office said in a statement.

“The general public should be informed that the office of governor didn’t up to the present moment receive any official letter from the Office of the First Vice President instead, the official document addressed to Hon. Tong Akeen Ngor, Governor of NBGS was posted on the Social Media (Facebook/Meta) by unauthorized individuals. Thus, the Governor didn’t and will never defy any Constitutional and Executive directives from the First Vice President H. E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny as being alleged by different media outlets,” the statement added.