The Chief of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) David Yau Yau says that President Salva Kiir failed to consult him on the appointment of a new governor for Boma State, contrary to the terms of a peace deal giving his group the authority to nominate the ruler of the area.
Yau Yau was made head of the Pibor Area under the terms of a peace deal in 2013 signed between the Kiir’s government and his group, the SSDF-Cobra Faction.
The Cobra Faction had demanded for the creation of their own state independent from Jonglei State – a demand that has now been granted – but they were not given the opportunity to select the governor of “Boma State,” which the presidency intends as the successor government to the GPAA.
Several officials loyal to Yau Yau in recent days have expressed anger at the appointment of Jonglei Deputy Governor Baba Medan as the new Boma State governor instead of Yau Yau.
In a brief interview by phone on Friday, Yau Yau himself stated that the new appointment of Baba Medan as governor of Boma State has made many people in the area unhappy because it is contrary to the agreement he signed with the government in 2013.
Asked if his supporters were happy with the move, he said they were not happy. “There is something like that,” he said, referring to popular dissatisfaction with the new order.
The remarks by Yau Yau contradict statements by Akot Lual Areech, presidential envoy on Pibor affairs, who claimed in an interview Thursday that the president had consulted Yau Yau prior to appointing the new Boma State governor and dissolving the GPAA government.
Areech deflected a question about whether the new appointment violated the peace deal with the Cobra Faction, saying, “The agreement which the government signed with Cobra Faction was a means to achieving the vision of a new state. It was what people wanted and they have gotten it.”
The newly appointed governor, Baba Medan, is not reported to have arrived in the Greater Pibor Area, whereas Yau Yau is reported to have traveled from Pibor to Juba.
File photo
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GPAA spokesman downplays military tensions in Pibor after removal of Yau Yau (1 Jan.)