Northern Bahr el Ghazal State-based activist Samuel Garang Dut said he has been receiving threatening messages from members of his Luo community allied to Governor Tong Akeen Ngor that he will be apprehended after he refused to apologize and reconcile with the governor.
In 2021, the activist was first detained by police and later sentenced to eight months in jail by the Aweil High Court after he was accused by the governor of maladministration and diverting public property including steel, iron sheets and cement to his private use.
After being released from prison, Garang was again detained in 2022 by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces’ (SSPDF) Military Intelligence alongside 105 others for allegedly being in contact with former Army chief turned rebel leader, Gen. Paul Malong Awan, who now leads the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A). He was freed in late 2023 after being found innocent.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, Garang stated that a group of his Luo community loyal to Governor Akeen plan to ensure that he is arrested for refusing to apologize and reconcile with the latter.
The activist vowed not to accept any initiative that will force him to apologize to and reconcile with the governor and his supporters unless a neutral third party facilitates the process because the governor and the supporters have been behind his repeated arrests.
“People close to our area Member of Parliament, Stephen Ajongo Akol, and Governor Tong Akeen Ngor have been calling and telling me to apologize and reconcile with the governor. I refused because they are the same people who have arrested and intimidated me in the past unless they send me a neutral third party if there is a need for reconciliation,” he explained. “After my refusal, they resorted to intimation, sending me messages and threatening me and that is why I have decided to break the silence and inform the public through my Facebook timeline about what is going on.”
Garang insisted that he has no personal grudge with or issues with the governor.
“I was talking about the welfare of the people of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State so why should I apologize and reconcile with the governor yet what I have been fighting for is not done? He state. “That is a slap in the face on the people because I was talking about corruption, division, and bad governance in the state.”
However, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Acting Information Minister Abuor Gordon Nhial said she and the state government do not know of any threats against Garang.
“Our cabinet affairs minister, minister of culture, youth and sports, and other members of the state government from the Luo community have not received such a report,” she stated. “We have media laws which guarantee everybody freedom to express their opinion provided that what they are expressing is truth and nobody can compel them to apologize.”
The minister blamed the public for misusing the right of access to information and freedom of expression on social media platforms and urged people to be responsible.
For his part, Santino Deng Ngong, the executive director of the Aweil Community-Based Organizations Forum (ACBOF), urged Garang to compromise and urgently reconcile with Governor Akeen for the sake of peace and unity.
“Sometimes, you forego your rights for the sake of peace and unity and I am supporting the community, elders, and colleagues of Samuel Garang Dut who have been requesting him to apologize because the current peace agreement we have was achieved after some people compromised,” he said.
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