Salva Chol Ayat, former acting caretaker governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal welcomed on Monday changes made by President Salva Kiir, removing him from his position and replacing him with the state police commissioner, Major General Akot Deng Akot.
Chol said, “I am still in Juba and I welcomed what happened yesterday. It is a normal routine changes which happens everywhere in the world. Reshuffling and changes in the government are normal. In our constitution, appointing and relieving governors is a prerogative of the president of the republic and we must accept these changes the same way we do when we are appointed.”
Chol was a deputy governor appointed by Paul Malong Awan when Malong was still a state governor in 2013 before he was appointed army chief of staff in 2014.
The deputy governor continued in the same capacity when Kuel Aguer Aguer was appointed as the caretaker governor but was later promoted by the presidential order to acting caretaker governor when Kuel was fired after falling out with Malong.
Officials now say the recent decrees did not it make clear whether Salva Chol would return to his previous position as the deputy governor or not. Chol had been seeking appointment to be confirmed as full caretaker governor.