The Governor of Upper Nile State, James Odhok Oyai, has said the security situation in the state is relatively calm, people have cultivated, and that the medical staff at the Malakal Teaching Hospital who went on strike over unpaid allowances have resumed work.
In an exclusive interview with Radio Tamazuj, the governor also revealed that a few boats have arrived in Malakal from Juba recently after the boat association stopped transport activities on the River Nile due to the proliferation of illegal checkpoints and extortion by several armed groups. This he said, was as a result of meeting with his Jonglei State counterpart and the leadership of the SSPDF leadership in Juba.
Below are edited excerpts:
Q: How can you describe the current security situation in the state?
A: Thank you for this opportunity. The general situation is good and the only latest incident that happened last Saturday was when I received a security briefing that an SSPDF soldier had allegedly killed one of the National Security Service personnel in the town. The joint operation was able to apprehend the culprit and he has now been put in prison awaiting court procedures.
We instructed the leadership of the SSPDF to allow the court procedure to take place because the family of the late NSS officer was not certain if the culprit was under arrest. So, I can describe the general security situation as 70 percent positive. There was a bit of an issue in Maban County. A group of citizens accused the commissioner, Peter Alberto, of selling cars that were donated by an organization. People protested and demanded his replacement.
When he arrived from Juba, we instructed him to go and supervise the flooding that hit the area. Any commissioner is a member of a high-level committee so that they can report any disaster in his county. Upon his arrival at the airport, when he was faced with this protest, he decided to dissolve the offices of the youth, women, and chiefs which triggered more anger among the communities in Maban. We spoke to these groups and told them if there is any protest, it should be a peaceful march. They accepted our order and they asked for their offices to be reinstated.
I issued an order canceling the decision of the commissioner and I traveled the following day to Maban County. I met with the security committee and these groups and I made it clear to them that any commissioner is appointed by the president and I do not have any legality to terminate him from his office. But we are going to form an investigative committee to look into the issue.
When the committee was formed and before they could meet with the commissioner, he traveled to Juba without informing the governor. So, we understand that the commissioner does not want to meet this committee because he knows he has committed a crime. Therefore, and based on our limited power, we have suspended him.
Q: Before this decision to suspend him, did you have any information that the commissioner was about to defect and join the SPLM Party?
A: I did not have any idea about that but the procedure I carried out is with the power of the state government because he has refused to meet the investigative committee.
Q: Your committee has done nothing yet on the ground and before they could meet the commissioner, you suspended him. Can you clarify this?
A: I went to Maban myself and I met him (commissioner) personally. I advised him to stay and he should use the office as the venue for this investigation. He did not comply with that instruction. When we called him on the phone, he did not pick up the call. To our surprise, we heard that he has joined the SPLM-in Government.
Q: What is the use of the committee at the moment? The commissioner has joined another party and the committee has not presented anything.
A: This committee was not formed based on any party but on the state government. If he is found guilty of any crime, he will still be charged because this is the property of the people.
Q: What is the state of health care in the state amidst the strike by medical staff at the Malakal Teaching Hospital?
A: I heard this news recently and I have summoned all the heads of department in addition to the acting director general who lost his wife in Juba where he has gone for burial.
We met and heard their grievances and according to their report, they are on strike because of some allowances that used to be provided by the World Bank and they have gone for three months without being paid. We told them that they should not go on strike because of the allowance and that they should address their demands to the concerned authorities.
They now have resumed work at the hospital and the deputy governor is engaged in other meetings with the heads of departments and the health minister, so, the matter is resolved.
Q: Have you visited the hospital to ensure it is operational?
A: I did not go myself but the deputy governor has confirmed to me that the mayor and the state director of National Security have gone there and the hospital is working. I am planning to visit the hospital tomorrow.
Q. The current economic situation is unbearable as civil servants have not been paid for months. Do you have any plans to mitigate the situation locally instead of depending on Juba for salaries?
A. The current economic situation is not only affecting the people of Upper Nile but the entire South Sudan. In the recent past, our state used to depend on revenues from markets in the northern counties such as Renk, Wed Akona, Maban, Malut, and Fashoda, but due to the ongoing war in Sudan, all these revenues are blocked.
We used to sell charcoal, gum Arabic, sesame, and dry fish. And Sudanese traders used to supply our local markets with fuel and other food commodities. We now depend on boats that come from Juba to Upper Nile and some of them even go up to the Sudan. When the oil was flowing, we used to get the percentage of 2 percent and 3 percent for the community. It has now gone to more than 8 months and we have not received this.
We have been encouraging our citizens to engage in agriculture and this year, our people in Renk have planted a lot of food and if the rainfall is good this season, the hunger issue will be resolved. Our national government is doing its best to find alternative solutions.
My government and I have worked and encouraged our citizens to plant maize which helped our people to survive up to now. A month from now if the Sorghum crop is harvested, it would also help our people. If you have SSP 3,000 to 5,000, you can get fish and that is done.
Our wish is that God provide our national government in Juba so that they can find a solution to the issue of salaries. For us in the state, we do not have any alternative, only agriculture. That is why you see everybody in the state is busy with planting. We strengthened the security so that an ordinary citizen can move out of the town for a radius of 4 to 5 kilometers to cultivate.
Q: You recently visited Jonglei State for further cooperation on transport along the River Nile. What are some of the resolutions of that meeting?
A: I went to Juba to meet other officials. The boat association was on strike due to more than 100 checkpoints along the River Nile between Juba and Malakal and they have stayed for more than one month without going to Malakal. I also went to Jonglei State to identify how many security checkpoints are owned by the government, SPLM-IO, SSOA, and all other signatories to the peace agreement because some of these groups have their armies along the river.
We met with the Jonglei officials and the UN partners also provided us with numbers of the checkpoints. According to the UN report, 5 checkpoints belong to the government. In Central Equatoria there are 4 government checkpoints, in Jonglei there are more than 40 checkpoints and only 10 belong to the government, in Upper Nile there are 4 checkpoints but what I know are two, one in Tunja and one in Wurjuok. The rest belong to Jonglei State.
We resolved that each governor should instruct their commissioners to direct their forces to reduce the checkpoints. We further met with the Deputy Chief of Staff who is from the SPLA-IO and he promised to form a committee to look into that matter. We also met with the boat association in Jonglei together with my counterpart Governor Mahjoub Biel Turuk and it was a fruitful meeting. Since then, we received about 5 boats but we are expecting more to resume work because some of them are still afraid. So, we need a lot of work on those checkpoints so that we rescue the people of Upper Nile and even people in Sudan.
It was a fruitful visit and at the moment there is good cooperation between Upper Nile and Jonglei State. We also discussed Nyirol, Baliet, Ulang, and others. The meeting resolved that we should organize a border conference among these counties during the coming dry season.
Q: Many observers have been criticizing the state officials for spending more time out of the state. How do you describe the situation now and what are some of the measures you put in place to bring them back to the state?
A: We have developed rules and I instructed any minister who stays out of state without official reason, administrative measures will be taken. That is why you see many of them now are here in the state and for the first time, our attendance reached 15 ministers out of 17.
We have been criticized a lot about the budget and that is why we put in a lot of effort and next Thursday we will pass the budget and send it to the legislative assembly for approval. The assembly was supposed to go for recess but we have instructed them to extend the period so that they pass the budget.
We also instructed the parliament to enact laws that govern the outlawed group of gangsters commonly referred to as niggers. In most cases, when a niggers are sent to court, judges keep on saying they do not have a law in place to judge them. The gangs have become a serious threat to Upper Nile and the entire country. We also discussed the policies of each ministry as well.