The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the SPLM and the SPLM-IO to expeditiously address the escalating power scuffle in Western Bahr el Ghazal States’ far-flung Raga County.
Last week, SPLM-IO nominated Raga County Commissioner Addison Arcangelo and the county’s SPLM party boss, Awad Ismail, were involved in a tiff. The commissioner faulted the local SPLM party boss for ordering SSPDF to disarm his bodyguards.
South Sudan is governed by a transitional coalition government formed under a peace agreement signed in September 2018.
Fearing the tensions will escalate, CEPO’s coordinator in the state, Stephen Robo Musa, urged the peace partners at the state level to amicably mitigate the matter.
“There is misunderstanding and a poor relationship between the county commissioner and the local SPLM party chief. They are not interacting, each one operates on his own and this also involves their security people, “The county commissioner is working in isolation I see an implication as people are returning. If this is not addressed, it will hinder the return of the refugees and the IDPs to the county.”
“The signatories to the peace agreement should promote the spirit of partnership, cohesion, and unified government to sustain peace and stability and ensure that the place is safe for refugees and the IDPs to return,” he added.
When contacted, the state’s SPLM party secretary for political affairs, Abdullah Partak Ngondo, confirmed the variances but promised that the state SPLM secretariat is investigating the matter.
“For sure, there was a misunderstanding between the two but as the SPLM leaders at the state level, our priority is peace. We are concerned and peace must prevail across the country,” he said.
On his part, the SPLM-IO state secretary, Paulino Adam Naro, said their office in Wau is yet to receive a full report of the happenings in Raga County but admitted that they heard about the tensions there.
“We have just heard rumors so I cannot comment before the official report which we are waiting for,” Naro said. “I have been trying to call the commissioner but I have failed to reach him. He is supposed to report to us about the security situation there. We received a security report but not a political report.”