Secretary General of South Sudan’s ruling party “persuaded” to stay at the helm

Pagan Amum

(Juba NSV) – Pagan Amum called a press conference this afternoon to address issues surrounding his alleged resignation as Secretary General of the SPLM and Caretaker Minister of Peace and CPA Implementation.Addressing reporters at the SPLM National Secretariat Hall in Juba on Monday, Pagan confirmed it was “true” he tended in his resignation on 11 of July as Minister and SG of the SPLM.

He said he “took a whole day, fasting and praying over [his resignation].”

The Secretary General’s resignation leakage to the press last week caused a lot of consternation and left many Southerners asking more questions than they had answers for.

Some media reports suggested Pagan resigned due to internal disagreements within the SPLM and allegations of corruption.

In his explanation to the media, Pagan said these reports were “absolutely not true.” Instead, he added his move was triggered by his desire to serve the society as a private citizen and to vacate the positions for “fresh blood.”

He dismissed any reports of disagreements, saying the SPLM was “more united” than previously and his “relations with the President have been excellent.”

Meanwhile, Pagan was sworn in as Caretaker Minister last week, a reversal of his previous position. The move encouraged further speculations about the ironic turn of events.

After nearly two weeks of close secrecy around his decision, the Secretary General’s explanations on Monday did not satisfy some members of the press.

A journalist asked whether it was “dictatorship” on Mr. Kiir’s part to “turn-down” Pagan’s wish, and whether Pagan would be productive in such an “unwilling” position.

“I will not be carrying out my duties with unwillingness,” Pagan replied, denying that he was dictated on.

He added that he was “persuaded” by Salva Kiir to remain as Caretaker Minister and Secretary General of the SPLM until the party’s next Convention.

Another reporter quizzed Pagan whether his temporary resignation was a “cover-up” for the accusations of corruption which were recently leveled against him.

On the question, Pagan responded that Kiir’s decision to retain him was “clear response that the allegations were false.” He told the journalists to conduct their own independent investigations.

He also shot back that the allegations were peddled by people who were “covering up unpatriotic” stands, giving the north 48 per cent of “our oil.