Aweil MP alleges NSS barred him from taking oath of office

William Wel Deng, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Member of Parliament from the SPLM. [Photo: Radio Tamazuj]

A member of parliament from the ruling SPLM party in the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State legislative assembly has accused the National Security Service agents of barring him from taking oath on Monday.

A member of parliament from the ruling SPLM party in the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State legislative assembly has accused the National Security Service agents of barring him from taking oath on Monday. 

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday in his home village in Aweil North County, William Wel Deng, blamed the national security agency for detaining him for six hours and freeing him after his fellow MPs had taken their oath of office. 

“The SPLM Secretary-General wrote to the national security agency to ban me from being sworn in with my colleagues and the agency has carried out its mission by detaining me in their premises for six hours,’’ he claims.

Wel said he feels he has been targeted by state authorities because of his vocal stance on justice, unity, and peace. 

“I think it was not the SPLM Secretary alone, the governor was part of it, the commissioner of Aweil North, security adviser, the newly appointed government chief whip, and the speaker herself were part of the move because they planned it on dates 22, 24 and by 25 February they sat and wrote the letter to ban me because I am fighting for justice, equality, unity, peace, and harmony among the members of the party-that became my problem,” he claimed. 

Responding to the allegations, the state SPLM Secretary-General, Stephen Ayaga said he had very little knowledge of the matter. 
 
“I am telling you that I don’t have any clear picture as the deputy chairperson and secretary-general for the party, he said.

In November last year, President Salva Kiir Mayardit appointed 100 members of parliament for Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. However, only 91 were sworn in by the state government on Monday.

Aweil Community Based Organizations Forum (ACBOF)’s Executive Director, Santino Deng Ngong said the other MPs were not sworn in due to their parties’ disagreements over appointments. He urged the parties to quickly resolve their disputes to allow the assembly to become functional.

“We are aware that 100 members of parliament were approved by the peace agreement among the parties. However, some of the parties have some disagreements among themselves regarding the nomination of the members,” he noted. “This happens always from the parties throughout the country and as civil society organizations representative, this is a great setback in the progress of implementation of the peace agreement and the role of the missing members in the parliament will remain unaccomplished.”