Jonglei State Governor Denay Jock Chagor on Friday issued a decree suspending his labor and public service minister, a move seen as an escalation to the already precarious political situation in Bor town.
John Bany Kuek, the suspended labor minister, subscribes to President Salva Kiir’s SPLM Party while Governor Denay is a member of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), one of the signatory parties to the 2018 peace deal.
For months, Jonglei State has been a scene of political unrest, with Governor Denay and his deputy, Akech Dengdir, who doubles as the state SPLM Party chairperson, publicly disagreeing over the appointment of the Bor Municipality mayor.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Elizabeth Nyadak John, the state information minister, said her colleague, Minister Bany, was suspended because he allegedly disobeyed the governor.
“The minister of labor was suspended yesterday (Friday) for disobeying the rules and policies of the Jonglei State government. We are in peace roadmap and unity government, meaning we should cooperate with our governor,” she said. “Since I joined the Jonglei State government, the labor minister obtains no orders from the governor and he disobeys the governor. He was manipulating things and he did not want the labor ministry director-general because the latter was following the rules.”
Minister Nyadak, who also doubles as the state government mouthpiece, said the lack of cooperation among cabinet members is affecting service delivery.
“These party people are destroying the government. There is a difference between (political) parties and government. John Bany takes things on his own that we need to work as SPLM because I come from SPLM,” she said. “These problems all started because of the appointment of the mayor by the governor. On the same day, the mayor was taking the oath, the director-general was suspended and a directive to have him reinstated was defied by the (labor) minister.”
However, embattled Labour Minister Bany said his decision to have the director-general suspended over alleged gross misconduct was administrative but that the state governor and information minister intervened to protect the director-general who is their county mate.
“My director-general committed several gross misconducts. Firstly, he recruited 469 people into the payroll without informing me. He also recruited 60 consultants for the peacebuilding ministry without my knowledge. Again, the council of ministers resolved in 2019 that the families of deceased employees from grade 1 to 17 continue to receive SSP 12,000 each until when pensions are available but the director general canceled this,” Bany explained. “Again, the director-general promoted his wife from grade 7 to 3. So those are charges for which I was to investigate the director-general after 3 months from September 15. Of these 469 recruits, 400 come from the same town as the governor and director-general. On 12 October, the governor ordered me to recruit 79 chiefs from Akobo County excluding Uror, Nyirol, Ayod, Fangak, and Pigi counties, whose chiefs are not also paid.”
“I refused to act on that and referred him to local government ministry or council of ministers,” Bany added.
For his part, Bol Deng Bol, the head of Intrepid South Sudan and the Jonglei Civil Society Network (JCSN), faulted Governor Denya for the latest political tension in the state, accusing him of trying to obstruct justice.
“The governor did not do the right thing. It was interference with the administration of the ministry. The minister had the right to suspend and investigate the director-general and he should have been given time to complete the investigation,” he said. “So, the governor’s decision to reinstate the director-general and suspend the minister amounts to interference. We are urging him to reinstate the minister and instead act by assisting his ministers to do their work.