Peter Lam Both beats Kuol Mayang to become Acting SPLM Secretary-General

JUBA – South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has appointed Peter Lam both, former governor of the defunct Latjor state, as the next acting secretary general of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) faction replacing former parliamentary affairs minister Jemma Nunu Kumba who was appointed as speaker of parliament last month.

Peter is currently the spokesman of the SPLM party.

This comes nearly one month after his predecessor Kumba was selected by President Kiir during a meeting of SPLM lawmakers in parliament, as the first female speaker of the country’s recently formed Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly.

Speaking to Sudans Post this evening, a senior presidency official who has direct knowledge of the Lam’s appointment said the SPLM spokesman was selected by President Kiir during a meeting of the SPLM Political Bureau in Juba which was attended by senior members of the party including Kuol Manyang Juuk who had also expressed interest in the position.

“This is to confirm that Honorable Peter Lam Both has been selected by President Salva Kiir Mayardit as the next acting Secretary-General of the SPLM historical party with effect from today and General Kuol Manyang Juuk has conceded that all those in attendance voted in favor of Peter Lam against him,” the official who requested not to be named said.

Lam is a South Sudanese-Canadian and holds B.A. in Political Science and International Relations (1996) from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He also graduated with Bachelor of Social Work (2002) and Masters of International Social Work (2004) from the University of Calgary.

He worked as the as SPLM/Government of Southern Sudan’s Ambassador to Canada where he helped – under extremely difficult conditions – form at least fourteen (14) SPLM Chapters across Canada with membership of over 4000.

In October 2015, President Salva Kiir issued a decree establishing 28 states. He then appointed on 24 December 2015 Peter Lam as the first governor of Latjor state, one of the states that were created out the upper Nile state.