Officials in the new so-called ‘Lol State’ government want to take assets belonging to Western Bahr al Ghazal State, which Salva Kiir has declared defunct through presidential decree.
Lol State is one of 28 state governments decreed by Kiir to replace the ten states established at independence under the constitution. He asked governors of the successor states to divide up assets of the ten former states.
In a meeting with the governor of Wau, the chairman of the oversight committee on the division of assets from Lol state Pasquale Gama called for the speedy division of the assets between the two successor states Wau and Lol to cover the shortages in his government.
He pointed out that Lol State lost almost everything after the attack by armed group on the capital of the state Raja on 15 June, which forced the government to ask for more assets from the former Western Bahr el Ghazal. Raja has been partly deserted since the attack.
The division of the civil service also remains partly unresolved. In April local authorities in Raja demanded the files of all public servants who hail from Raja and working in Wau to be sent to Raja.
Opponents of the creation of Lol State have taken control of parts of the countryside in Raja County. They include a number of prominent Raja citizens and government defectors.
Members of the Lol State governor such as Governor Rizig Zacharia fear to return to Raja after narrowly escaping the rebel attack last June. The state government has been scattered to Aweil, Nyamlel and Juba.