The head of South Sudanese opposition group SPLM-IO Riek Machar has appointed his own wife as chairperson of the former rebel group’s ‘National Committee for Security and Defence’.
Machar signed a peace agreement with President Salva Kiir in August this year. If implemented, the deal will make him vice-president of the country, but Machar has not yet returned from exile.
In a decree dated 6 November, the SPLM-IO leader announced the appointment of Angelina Teny as chairperson of the group’s national committee for security and defense. He did not explain the purpose of the committee nor his reasoning for appointing his wife to head it.
In a separate decree, Machar also appointed Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping as chairman of the SPLM-IO Committee for Labor and Human Resources Development. The same official had been serving as chairman of the SPLM-IO ‘Committee for Public Enterprise’ – a position from which he is now relieved.
Machar also appointed Losuba Ludoru Wongo as chairman of the SPLM-IO Committee for Land, Housing and Environment.
File photo: Taban Deng (left) and Angelina Teny (right) at an SPLM-IO conference in Pagak, South Sudan.