Western Bahr el Ghazal state Governor Sarah Cleto Rail on Thursday swore in two deputy mayors for the Wau municipal council.
The two deputy mayors are Goc Deng Goc, for finance and administration, and Roweda Rajab Suleiman, for land and infrastructure.
Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony, Governor Cleto urged the newly appointed officials to work with the town mayor to deliver services to the population.
“So, now that you have sworn in, it is time to win the trust of your people,” Governor Cleto said. “You have won the trust of your different communities or parties but it is time to win the trust of all the in the municipality and the people in Western Bahr el Ghazal.”
She added: “Our motto is building peace through services delivery and you are now part of that process and we are calling upon you to work together with the mayor to serve the municipality.”
The governor warned the deputy mayors to desist from taking political sides and work collaboratively.
“We need to put the interest of the people first and work in unity and unify our ideas and harmonize our activities. We will not go ahead if we are not united so let us work together as citizens of Wau.” Cleto advised. “Let the political issues be kept out of government offices, they should be left at the party secretariats. We are here as a government of national unity and we are organized to work to develop our nation.”
For his part, Mayor Paulino Said Uku, welcomed his newly appointed deputies and pledged to work with them.
“I am very happy and I hope this is a good step for services delivery to the civilians. We will work to open up roads and create development in an organized way within Wau town,” Mayor Uku said. “I can tell my deputies that you are welcome to work for the success of our unity government.”
The appointment of the two deputy mayors was shelved since March 2021 when former Deputy Governor Angelo Taban Biajo of the ruling SPLM party locked horns with Governor Cleto of the SPLM-IO over the issue.
The compromise that led to resolving the impasse stipulated that the mayor is from SPLM-IO so the two deputies are appointed from SPLM and SSOA.