Kuel Aguer Kuel, caretaker governor of South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State was given an unusually prominent reception by senior national politicians upon his arrival in Juba, following reports of a dispute between him and the ex-governor Paul Malong, who currently serves as chief of staff of Salva Kiir’s forces.
Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk, Chief Negotiator Nhial Deng Nhial, Political Bureau member Daniel Awet Akot, and Acting Secretary-General Anne Itto were among the senior members of the ruling SPLM-Juba faction who showed up to receive him.
The governor of the stronghold state of the ruling SPLM-Juba faction arrived in Juba to consult with President Salva Kiir and other leaders on the situation in his state and to receive new directives, specifically on matters related to the conduct of the upcoming elections and the conduct of the local party congresses.
The reception at Juba International Airport was unprecedented in terms of the number of prominent figures, intellectuals and members of parliament who showed up to give a welcome to the caretaker governor.
Kuel replaced his predecessor General Paul Malong Awan in April 2014 when the latter was appointed as the chief of general staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (Juba faction).
Although General Awan played a significant role in the appointment of Kuel as his replacement, recent political developments in the state indicate a rupture between the two.
Partly this may be due to recent administrative changes in which some of Awan’s supporters who served in his cabinet for a period of over five years were removed and replaced.
The ex-governor Awan has remained as chairman of the ruling party in the state even after relocating to Juba, and he has warned that his key supporters in the state should not be removed from their political positions.
At a public rally in Aweil in 2014 he said, “The person that has come to replace me will continue to water the trees I have planted. None of them can be removed without my consent.”
In some quarters this was interpreted as a warning that major changes in the state administration should not take place without his consent.
‘Unprecedented reception’
According to one observer, the high-level reception for Governor Kuel in Juba was meant to signal political unity amid concerns about divisions in the stronghold state.
Ajou Deng, a member of SPLM-Juba from Aweil East County, said the reception given to Governor Kuel is a repudiation of those who think they wield unchallengeable power.
“It was an unprecedented reception… It was a political reception to send a warning signal to those who have a false conviction that without them, there can never be Mading Aweil, which is a false belief because there were people before they came into the leadership position in Aweil and they never behaved the way of our so-called leaders are behaving.”
“They behave like children instead of working together. Public positions are never permanent and some people should understand that public positions are for public services. They are not meant to show power or made an opportunity to settle personal differences with some people,” said Deng.
“It is really confusing that those who supported the appointment of governor Kuel Aguer Kuel are the very people who are now working for his removal in less than a year. What mistake can they say has been made by their friend in such a short period of time?”
File photo: Kuel Aguer
Related:
SPLM-Juba launches crackdown on dissent in N Bahr el Ghazal (7 Jan.)