The author of this article argues that Northern Bahr al Ghazal Police Commissioner Major General Akot Deng Akot is not behind the recent impeachment of the state Caretaker Governor Kuel Aguer Kuel. He says that many interpretations of the recent political unrest in Northern Bahr al Ghazal is based on hearsay and not fact.

On 26th January 2015, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State Legislative Assembly impeached Caretaker Governor Kuel Aguer Kuel on various charges. The impeachment was successful with 34 members voting in favor of the motion to remove him while 8 others voted against the impeachment. The reaction to the Vote-of-no-Confidence was mixed which is normal in any democratic society. Citizens of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State have their constitutional right to react to political matters the way they see fit.

However, as a one-time insider in government business, my conclusion was that most of the reactions were based on hearsays and emotions. Majority of our citizens didn’t base their arguments on real factors leading to the impeachment. But I am not trying to blame anyone here because there was no prior education provided to citizens on the genesis of Kuel’s political crisis in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State (NBGS). 

When I saw that the debate over the impeachment was no longer on the subject matter but was only creating unnecessary collision among friends and colleagues, I decided to stay aloof. The reason for this article is to dispel the notion being spread around by Kuel’s camp. I read a piece on radiotamajuz.org and papers in Juba in which Gen. Akot Deng Akot is subtly accused by some quarters of being behind the impeachment of Caretaker Governor in NBGS.

First of all, Gen. Akot Deng Akot is a law-abiding citizen and one of our leading heroes who liberated this country. Since taking over the commissionership of police in NBGS, he has successfully maintained the internal security of NBGS to the satisfaction of not only the citizens of NBGS but also the government of South Sudan. To his credit, NBGS has continuously been rated as the only State in the Republic of South Sudan with the lowest rate of crime. Due to his success as a police commissioner in NBGS, he was transferred to Western Bahr El Ghazal State following the crisis that erupted in Wau and which resulted into serious insecurity over there. He was later transferred back to NBGS after successfully restoring security in Western Bahr El Ghazal State.

I decided to give this brief background on Gen Akot Deng in order to give his true image, which some people are trying to tarnish for mere political reasons.

Having given this background, let me go back to the notion/accusation that Gen. Akot ousted Kuel Aguer Kuel from office. This accusation is blatant lie and has no basis whatsoever. First and foremost, Gen. Akot is not a member of State Liberation Council which stripped Kuel of his SPLM membership, nor is he a Member of State Parliament that impeached and dismissed Kuel from his gubernatorial position. His role is to provide security to all citizens of NBGS regardless of their political affiliations, nationality, race, or religion.

For your information, Kuel had financially sponsored demonstration against State Assembly across the State, which had the potential of igniting violence in our peaceful State of NBG. Being in charge of State security, Generals Akot Deng and Deng Wol of SPLA’s 3rd Division stabilized the situation by deploying law enforcement agencies to ensure that citizens and their property were protected from those who would have taken law into their own hands. Law and order was successfully maintained in NBGS by joined forces of police and army in the State on 27th January 2015. What Generals Deng Wol and Akot Deng did on that day should be commended by anyone who cares for peace in NBGS. They have once again proven that NBGS will always be a peaceful State and no one can take this precious entity (peace) away from us.

Let me now inform everyone that Generals Akot Deng and Deng Wol should be congratulated for executing their constitutional mandate to ensure that peace and security prevail in NBGS. They have nothing to do with ongoing political situation in the State. They are there to provide security to everyone without exception.

I urge our citizens to always seek facts before reacting to political developments in the State on the basis of hearsays and emotions. Our State is bigger than our political differences. Let’s put our State first and politics second and ultimately encourage and support our law enforcement agencies and the Army to ensure that no one is allowed to advance his/her political interests through instigating violence among our peaceful citizens.

Finally, people of NBGS should wait for the outcome of the fact-finding committee, which is currently in NBGS and the ultimate decision by the President of the Republic.

The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.