The chairperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party in Warrap State’s Gogrial West County, Joseph Ngong Ngong, has accused the county commissioner, Victor Wek Koordit, of being obstinate and restricting civic space.
The commissioner belongs to the South Sudan Patriotic Movement (SSPM), which is a member of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and has been in office for the last four years since the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
“The commissioner lacks cooperation, and he has violated the peace agreement by not granting political space to the SPLM and other parties. He has stayed too long in the office, for four years now, and there are no tangible developmental activities, and he still stays in the British colonial premises,” Ngong charged. “He disrupts SPLM Party meetings because he one time arrested my secretary without informing me as [SPLM) chairperson. He is a failed man. He is supposed to provide sufficient security forces to hot spot areas promptly, and this failure led to the loss of many innocent lives in the conflict between Kuac and Aguoik communities last year.”
“This commissioner always takes sides and denies the Kuac Community fundamental rights to life, and he failed to resolve the land dispute between Awan Yen and Kerek on where to install a communication network tower, and his ignorance led to the loss of one life,” he added.
For his part, Gogrial West County Commissioner Victor Wek Koordit denied the accusation, which he termed lies.
“He [Ngong] is a liar! When he was appointed, we were operating peacefully with him and his secretaries. We do not have work relations as he is the SPLM chairperson, and I am the commissioner of the government. There is not a single day I ordered security forces to harass, interrupt, and freeze their party activities. If I did, why did he not come to my office and discuss the matter?” he asked, and added: “I do not know whether he has a personal problem or not because there are 11 members in his office, and he [Ngong], his secretary, Kur, and his secretary for information, Kuol Bol, are the ones who wrote this baseless complaint against me, but the rest are fine.”
Commissioner Wek said the SPLM Party county chairperson claimed 50 percent of county revenue collections as his share, yet there is no clause in the peace agreement to that effect.
“Ngong always disturbs. I sympathetically assisted him when his SPLM flag was torn and released some money to buy him a flag, the one in his office, but Joseph Ngong used to collect money from administrators claiming they are all SPLM members,” Wek stated. “I gave SPLM the government’s hall for their activities. Ngong just wants to create chaos in the peaceful communities of Gogrial West County.”