SSOA says will not participate in the nomination of governors

South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) Logo (Photo credit: Alliance)

JUBA – The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) has said that it will not participate in the nomination process of the state governors unless the oil-rich Upper Nile state is allocated to it.

This comes following a meeting between President Salva Kiir and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar at the State House J1 on Wednesday in which they divided up the states between the parties and gave themselves the lion’s share.

In a statement this afternoon, Josephine Lagu, the minister of agriculture and the chairperson of South Sudan Opposition Alliance, said they reject the decision and stand by a previous position in which Kiir unilaterally gave them the Upper Nile.

“The Leadership of SSOA is dismayed by the press statement released by the Minister of the Presidential Affairs yesterday 17th June 2020 which reallocated the States to the parties to the Agreement,” the statement reads.

She said the meeting was not inclusive because VP for the alliance Hussein Abdelbagi was “currently in Aweil completing the funeral rites of his late father who passed away in Juba on the 6h June 2020.”

“Because of that, the leadership of SSOA still stands by the resolution of the Presidency dated 07 May 2020 that allocated Upper Nile to SSOA.”