Aweil South County Commissioner Luka Thel and the Clerk to the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Legislative Assembly, Abraham Manut, were reconciled on Monday after the duo was involved in a dispute over funds accrued from the surveying of market land in Aweil South County’s Ayai Payam.
The tensions, according to the reports, escalated between the two officials over who, between the community and county authority, should control the money for, and supervise the surveying of the land in question.
Manut, who also hails from Ayai Payam, has been advocating that the funds be used for development activities in the area, with a small percentage given to the county.
Radio Tamazuj has not been able to ascertain the amount of the money involved, but sources said a plot for a shop in the surveyed area goes for SSP 115,000.
Speaking to this publication on Tuesday, Akuei Deng Bak, a resident of Ayai Payam, said the commissioner was planning demarcate Ayai Payam Market and appointed a committee to sensitize and engage the locals to accept the idea. Manut was also a member of the body.
“The commissioner was trying to carry out a survey in Ayai Market, but after the local community opposed the plan, the commissioner appointed a committee comprised of local members who were tasked to persuade their community to accept the development,” he said.
Deng revealed that the issue arose when the committee opted to form a parallel administration and operate independently without reporting to the county authorities who assigned them to carry out the duties. They acquired stamps, headed papers, and produced financial forms, leading to the standoff.
“After some time, they (committee) created a parallel administration, and when the county commissioner warned them and ordered them to cease and handover the activities to the State Ministry of Lands and Survey, and County Land Administration, the committee refused,” he disclosed.
Deng confirmed that the reconciliation initiative by the community agreed that the money and administration of the land survey activities should be handed over to the county authorities. Meanwhile, the commissioner was directed to release 10 percent of all the collected funds from the land survey in Ayai Payam to the community.
On Tuesday, Abraham Manut told this publication that the community resolved that the money be handed over to the county authorities on Friday publicly, as opposed to attempts by the commissioner to take the money in the absence of the community.
“The problem was based on market demarcation money in the Ayai Payam in Aweil South County, but the community has resolved that we have to handover the money to the commissioner in front of everybody rather than the commissioner’s decision to take the money illegally, which we did not accept,” said Manut.
Efforts to contact Aweil South County Commissioner Luka Thel for comment were futile.