Confusion reigned on Monday in the capital of Western Bahr al Ghazal State just days after President Salva Kiir issued orders trying to divide the state into two, declaring the existing state government 'defunct'.

Eyewitnesses in Wau confirmed that state ministers failed to show up to work after they were prevented by security personnel from accessing their offices.

One source reported that a tax official was detained Sunday as he sought to collect furniture and belongings from his office to take to his home.

According to the same source, the deputy governor continued to fly the Western Bahr el Ghazal State flag during the Christmas holiday and up until Monday morning in spite of the president's order dissolving the state government.

The Council of Ministers held an emergency meeting on Monday with other top state officials to discuss how to continue with essential public services and the work of government in the wake of the surprise order from Juba.

Kiir's order removes Governor Rizig Hassan Zacharia, the elected state governor, and appoints him instead governor of “Lol State,” a new state created by Kiir out of Raja County, Aweil West and Aweil North.

Wau town itself will remain part of a new “Wau State” governed by an appointee of Kiir, Elias Waya Nyipuoch.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, a tribal leader in Raja declared that the people of Raja County would never accept to be governed as one state with the Dinka of Aweil West and Aweil North.

Raja is one of the areas that has seen the most outspoken criticism of Kiir's Establishment Order, including from chiefs and local officials.