Mahjoub Biel Turuk, the governor of Jonglei State, has canceled an administrative order issued by his deputy to establish a committee to address deadly inter-clan fighting in Nyirol County over alleged insubordination.
Last week, three days of deadly fighting erupted between communities of Cie-Puol and Cie-Dumin in the county headquarters, Langkien town resulting in the killing of at least seven people and the injury of 24 others in the intermittent revenge attacks.
Last Friday, Deputy Governor Atong Kuol Manyang Juuk issued an order establishing a State High-Level Committee to intervene in the conflict. Kuol, in her order, said she was acting on behalf of her boss and cited Article 103 (a)(d) of the 2011 Jonglei State Transitional Constitution and Presidential Decree No. 106A (2)(A) as the basis of her powers.
The 13-member committee was to be headed by Local Government Minister Simon Hoth Duol and deputized by his gender and social welfare counterpart, William Kuol Chuol. Members of parliament at the national and state levels and local community leaders were among those appointed to the committee.
Kuol, through the state government secretary-general, went on to write to the UNMISS Bor Field Office for the airlift of the peace committee to the restive town of Langkien.
However, in an order issued on 2 November, Governor Biel canceled his deputy’s order and issued another order establishing a separate probe body dubbed the High-Level Fact-Finding Committee.
“In her Order, there is a contradiction because she called it the State High-Level Committee while she added National parliamentarians. The question that begs itself is; where in the system of governance should the state MPs lead the national MPs?” Governor Biel asked. “The administrative order was issued without prior consultation with the state leadership in the person of the governor who is in the country.”
The governor who hails from Langkien and assumed the state governorship on the ticket of Dr. Lam Akol’s National Democratic Movement (NDM), formed a 17-member committee led by National lawmaker Gordon Deng Lam, with Gabriel Gai Riam as its secretary. Other committee members are national and state parliamentarians, prominent elders, military officers, youth, and church figures.
Both the governor and his deputy were not immediately available for comment.
However, Biel Jiek Lual, the press secretary in the governor’s office, told Radio Tamazuj that there was no rift between the top state leadership and said the situation was triggered by miscommunication.
He confirmed the governor’s cancellation of his deputy committee and the formation of a separate one which he said arrived in Langkien town this (Tuesday) morning to resolve the conflict.
“What happened was just a misunderstanding between the two leaders. The relation between them remains intact,” he stated. “It was true that the governor canceled the order by his deputy and issued a separate one over the lack of consultation. As we speak, the 17 committee members arrived in Langkien and the conflict is being investigated.”
Meanwhile, Bol Deng Bol, a political observer, said the latest political development set a worrying trend and called on the state leadership to embrace the spirit of collegial cooperation for the sake of peace in the troubled Jonglei.
“We seem to be getting back to the politics where a governor and deputy openly show division in their work. Unfortunately, the governor and his deputy are trying to show their powers over a committee intended to bring peace to Nyrol. Now, the people of Nyirol are the ones to suffer amidst this division,” he stated. “As a civil society, we appeal that the spirit of collegial cooperation be embraced as stated in the agreement.”
