South Sudan’s Vice President Gen. Taban Deng Gai said he has been unable to meet President Salva Kiir Mayardit for nearly a year, blaming obstruction by officials within the Office of the President.
Taban, who also chairs the infrastructure cluster, made the remarks during funeral prayers in Juba on Saturday for victims of the Abiemnom massacre, where he said he was representing both the president and himself.
Taban, a member of the ruling SPLM party, is one of five vice presidents in the transitional unity government formed under the 2018 peace agreement.
He said he last met Kiir after returning from Unity State in May last year and has since failed to secure another meeting.
“When we come to gatherings like this, we are blamed — and that is your right — but it is difficult to believe that a vice president cannot meet the president. Who can believe? You will not believe it,” Taban said.
He also said his request to travel to his home area in Unity State since the Christmas season had not been approved by the president’s office.
During the event, Taban recounted a recent conversation with Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi, who questioned him about deadly intercommunal violence between Ruweng Administrative Area and Unity State.
“I told him … you people don’t assist us so that we can resolve problems facing our people,” Taban said.
Taban added that letters addressed to the president are sometimes not delivered, alleging interference within the president’s office. He said he supports calls by some people to confront corruption, including among officials in the presidency.
The vice president said he, Abdelbagi, presidential security adviser Tut Gatluak and others plan to meet Kiir upon his return from South Africa to discuss ways to curb violence such as the recent killings in Abiemnom County.
At least 213 people, including soldiers, were killed in an attack on Abiemnom in Ruweng Administrative Area on March 1, which authorities say was carried out by armed youth suspected to have come from Mayom County in Unity State.
Taban said the attack had been detected in advance by authorities in both Unity State and Ruweng but criticised officials for failing to act decisively to prevent it.
“They knew there was an attack coming. What were they doing?” he said, calling for an investigation into the incident.
He said a criminal case had been opened and stressed that the killings were not linked to tribalism but should be treated as a legal matter, noting that the perpetrators were known.
Taban also cited roadblocks and administrative weaknesses as key drivers of violence in Unity and Ruweng, adding that economic and bureaucratic constraints hamper efforts by leaders to address community disputes.
“Leaders don’t talk to their people. There is someone who cannot travel without securing permission. If I have not been granted approval by the president, I cannot go,” he said.