Chol Thon, governor of Eastern Nile State, has dismissed reports that he has refused to share assets with the other two successor states of Upper Nile State – Western Nile and Latjor – asserting that the assets division committee was formed a long time ago and has completed its work.
Chol also denied that he refused to cooperate with the governors of Western Nile and Latjor states, claiming he was recently with them in Juba where he personally held talks on bilateral relations between the his administration and the communities in the area and to further peaceful coexistence.
“I have been reading lots of unfounded allegations in the media attributed to members of parliament from Latjor and Western Nile states. I have them for a meeting so that I clarify these allegations I get in the press before their governors and other community leaders but they have never turned up and they have continued to make press releases making unfounded allegations. They are saying I have refused to cooperate with the governors and that I refused to share division of assets and manpower,” said Chol
He added, “This is not correct and you in the media need to verify that. I have never refused to cooperate with my colleagues from Western Nile and Latjor states. Why should I do that while we are part of the same government and the same party? This is not correct. The truth of the matter is that my colleagues and I are working together. We formed a committee to divide assets and manpower and this work has been completed already. Assets and the manpower have been distributed without any problem.”
On the other side, Daniel Deng Mayan, one of the 16 leading members of parliament from Lajor state, charged that governor had repeatedly refused the visit of the two governors to Malakal town to participate in the physical distribution of assets and manpower since Upper Nile State was divided in December 2015.
A joint release in February 2016 carrying the names of state members of parliament and Juba-based members of parliament also accused governor Chol of having refused cooperation with his colleagues from Latjor and Western Nile in compliance with the directives of President Salva Kiir.
“Governor Chol Thon has refused to cooperate with the two Governors of Latjor and Western Nile States since their appointments. We believe that his activities are a clear insubordination to the president’s order, because Governor Chol Thon has refused to visit former Upper Nile State capital-Malakal with other two states governors, namely, Latjor and Western Nile. However, he has finally refused to share assets with other two States, forgetting what has taken places in other States across the country,” the release reads in part.
Related:
MPs criticize ‘divisive’ purges in Upper Nile civil service (1 March)