The Plight of Caretaker Governors in the Republic of South Sudan
14 min readThe caretaker governors taking care of some states in South Sudan should start taking care of themselves first before it is too late for them.
By PaanLuel Wel, Juba
January 29, 2015 (SSB) — According to the democratic constitutional of the republic of South Sudan, fresh election should be called within 60 days in the event that the democratically and constitutionally elected governor of a state has been impeached by state parliament, fired by the president, resigned voluntarily from office, completely incapacitated or died in office.
Of the ten states of the republic of South Sudan, four are under caretaker governors, still awaiting elections years after their democratically and constitutionally elected governors were fired—or reassigned to new, better posts in Juba—by the president of the republic, Salva Kiir Mayaardit.
Governor Taban Deng Ghai of Unity state and Governor Chol Tong Mayai Jang of Lakes state were shown the revolving door of power after they fell out of favor with President Salva Kiir. Joseph Nguen Monytuil, a Bull Nuer whose brothers had been fighting the government of President Kiir, was brought in as the caretaker governor of Unity state. In Lakes state, Gen. Matur Chut Dhuol, a senior SPLA commander during the war, was appointed caretaker governor of Lakes state. Given Gen. Matur Chut’s toughness during the war of liberation, his appointment was meant primarily to combat and end the raging intra-tribal conflict among the Agaar Dinka of Lakes state.
On the other, Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk of the conflict-ridden Jonglei state and Governor Paul Malong Awan of Northern Bahr el Ghazal (NBeG) state were promoted and reassigned to Juba by President Kiir. Gen. Kuol Manyang was appointed defense minister while King Paul was made chief of general staff. President Kiir appointed Gen. John Koang Nyuon, former defense minister, as caretaker governor of Jonglei state while Kuel Aguer Kuel, then the SPLM secretary for finance and economic planning, was taken to NBeG state as the caretaker governor.
Constitutionally speaking, gubernatorial elections should have been conducted within 60 days of the respective appointment of the caretaker governors. But no gubernatorial election has been done ever since, much of which was, and still is, blamed on the dearth of fund and manpower to conduct the polls. The constitutional stipulation was discarded and the four states have stuck with caretaker governors taking care of their affairs till if and when new polls are conducted.
One way or another, the caretaker governors have found themselves between a rock and a hard place. This dilemma for the leadership of the caretaker governors manifests itself in different forms, shapes and colors. While some are battling their former predecessors in the battle for political supremacy within the state, others are facing the wrath of the local people who feel cheated to be lorded over by leaders they never voted for. In fact, some states perceive such caretaker governors as being forced upon them from Juba. This is why the local population called them Scare-Taker governors.
Two cases just this week illustrate the flight of the caretaker governors. Take, for instance, the case of NBeG state. The state assembly has just passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the caretaker governor, Comrade Kuel Aguer Kuel. To most observers and local folks in Aweil, this is clearly a case of political duel between the former governor, Malong Awan, and the new caretaker governor, Kuel Aguer.
In spite of being the chief of general staff in Juba, in charge of the national army, the SPLA, Malong Awan is still the chairman of the SPLM party in the state. Just recently, he has gone back to the state and arrested politicians who, reportedly, had shifted their allegiance from him to the new caretaker governor. That brazen action by the chief of the national army to meddle in state political affairs sent Kuel Aguer scampering to Juba to seek dialogue with the president. The president, who is very close to Malong Awan, has not taken any tangible action to reverse the worsening political situation.
The jostling for power culminated with the impeachment of the caretaker governor by the state assembly this week. Nonetheless, the caretaker governor is defiant, declaring that his powers emanate from the presidency in Juba, not the state assembly. Only the president can fire me, he insists. Comrade Kuel Aguer has vowed to stay put unless or until the president withdraw his confidence from, and powers conferred upon, him.
It is to be recalled that during the 2010 general election, there was a bruising battle between Gen. Daau Aturjong and Gen. Malong Awan for the gubernatorial position of NBeG state. When Malong Awan was declared the winner, Gen. Daau Aturjong had claimed that the election was rigged. His bitterness over the purportedly stolen election and his later continued power struggle with Malong Awan are suspected to have precipitated his ill-advised decision to join the rebellion of Riek Machar.
More interestingly, Kuel Aguer do claim that he had been appointed twice as minister of finance by President Kiir; however, Malong Awan, out of jealousy, had always influenced President Kiir to drop him from the cabinet at the last minute. With the current sprawling bitter power struggling and the impeachment of the caretaker governor, the palpable fear is that Kuel Aguer might end up deeply wounded psychologically and might begin flirting with joining the rebellion like Daau Aturjong.
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that Malong Awan is from Abiem Dinka while Daau Aturjong and Kuel Aguer are from Malual Dinka, the largest clan in Aweil. If this power game were to reach a level where Malual Dinka can’t take it anymore, the argument goes, then it might get to a point of intra-tribal fighting in Aweil like what is happening in Rumbek, though of different political nature. Already, Dr. Dhieu Mathok and Daau Aturjong—both Malual Dinka—are with Riek Machar; the rebels would happily exploit the deteriorating political situation in Aweil to gain military foothold in NBeG state.
To the supporters of Malong Awan, however, what the caretaker governor, Kuel Aguer, has embarked upon since assuming power is nothing less than biting the very hands that feed him. It is said that Malong Awan has been fatherly to him, recommending him to the president for appointment over and above Gen. Daau Aturjong, and that Malong Awan has done much grassroots campaigns for warm reception and treatment of Kuel Aguer.
Kuel Aguer, instead of appreciating Malong Awan for his kindness and support, began, on day one of his appointment, to undermine and fight Malong Awan within the state. Kuel Aguer is accused of being ungrateful to Malong Awan who had left his gubernatorial post, temporarily, to help defend the constitutional and democratic government of President Kiir. He is accused of undercutting and undermining Malong Awan when it was Malong, of all governors of South Sudan, who left his state post to go and fight the white army along the Juba-Bor road. If it was not for Malong Awan, his supporters claim, the white army would have captured Juba. His supporters wonder if it was a crime for Malong Awan to have faithfully stood by and defended the presidency of Salva Kiir to be undermined at his own home state.
In fact, Malong Awan and his supporters saw his appointment as chief of general staff as a temporary assignment just to plan and execute the war against Riek Machar after which he would resume his role as the constitutionally and democratically elected governor of NBeG state. That his own protégé is trying to undermine him when he is defending the government of President Kiir is seen as a great betrayal on the part of Kuel Aguer. There are as many Aweilians who support the version of Malong Awan as there are those who are deeply sympathetic to the plight of Kuel Aguer Kuel.
The second case is unfolding in Bor, Jonglei state. The appointment of caretaker governor, Gen. John Koang Nyuon, unfortunately coincided with the December 15th crisis. Bor was devastated by the Nuer white army and the governor, at one point, took refuge in the UNMISS base. Then in May 2014, the SSDM/A-Cobra faction of David Yau Yau, a Murle militia leader, signed a fledgling peace accord with the government of President Kiir in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, leading to the creation of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) in July 2014 with Yau Yau as its chief administrator, answerable to the president of the republic in Juba.
While caretaker governor John Koang was appointed the head of the entire Jonglei state, the combine misfortune of Riek Machar’s rebellion and the establishment of the GPAA reduced the powers of the caretaker governor to the three counties—Bor, Twic East and Duk—of the Greater Bor Dinka only. The rebels of Riek Machar and the white army control the Nuer areas of Jonglei state while David Yau Yau is the supreme leader of the GPAA, comprising the Murle, Anyuak, Jie and Kachipo communities.
Technically speaking, caretaker governor John Koang is taking care of the three Dinka counties only. Yet, the governor is a Nuer, his deputy a Murle, his information minister a Murle and his finance minister an Anyuak, among others. These glaring discrepancies between realities on the ground and realities on paper might have led the local Dinka politicians to commence agitating for the removal of caretaker governor. Their argument is that the Greater Dinka Bor community cannot be ruled by outsiders, especially when those outsiders have their own dominions to rule over.
These local agitated politicians cannot understand why a member of the GPAA could still be a deputy governor and others appointed as ministers in Bor when they have been constitutionally given their own administrative areas. If these outsiders are waiting for funding to their administrative areas, argue the agitated politicians, they should be waiting in Juba where the presidency is because they are answerable to the president, not Jonglei state government.
Not only that, there are also other allegations piled upon the caretaker governor. He is accused of discriminately removing Dinka officials from state government and of bringing in Nuer IDPs from Bor PoC to fill in their positions. He is said to be in the habit of withholding the salaries of local government employees in Bor while paying Nuer IDPS in the UNMISS base. There are even wild allegations of some planes, loaded with weapons, intercepted at Bor airstrip heading to Akobo, with the governor’s signature on papers. More pressing of all, the local population fear that, with the advent of peace, the Nuer IDPs in the UNMISS base would be allowed to return back and reclaim their homes and plots in Bor.
The local people think that those Nuer IDPs in the Bor PoC are the very white army militias who destroyed their towns, killed their relatives and raped their women. The thought that they would be allowed to live side by side with their killers infuriate the local Dinka population who somehow feel that the caretaker governor, being a Nuer, is siding with his Nuer cousins in the Bor PoC. They allege that the caretaker governor is working on a plan to forcefully resettle the Nuer IDPs in Bor town, against the wishes of the local population who want them immediately deported to their respective counties in Nuerland.
It was for these reasons, and other wild allegations, that the security situation worsened few days ago when women trooped to the street demanding the removal of the caretaker governor, Gen. John Koang Nyuon. When women protesters reached the governor residence, they were met by Hon. Peter Wal Athiu, state minister for local government and law-enforcement. When Wal Athiu tried to address and urge them to go home, they declared him a rebel, singing wildly: “Adun toh ne thapic ariak baai…”. Reportedly, five of the ringleaders of these women protestors were apprehended and jailed, allegedly at the orders of Minister Wal Athiu and Caretaker Governor John Koang Nyuon.
The following morning, more women went on the street demanding the release of their colleagues; about fifteen of them were promptly imprisoned, bringing the total number to 25-30 according to the local people in Bor. The news that the state caretaker governor was arresting women was received with outrage on the social media. At first, the state officials declared that the only women arrested were four ladies, all of whom are members of the South Sudan national army.
Captain Dook Chuor and Sergeant Achol Dut are reported to be police officers while Sergeant Sarah Angeth and Sergeant Ayuen Garang are officers with the prison services and wildlife respectively. Members of the military forces, the state government argues, are not allowed by law to take part in any demonstration against the government.
Some members of the state government have simply stated that there are no women arrested whatsoever, and that only three women were called to the CID office for interrogation, after which they were allowed to go home. These members claim that the media is spreading dangerous, false propaganda, intended to confuse and divide “our peace-loving people” by some disgruntled politicians who have lost positions under the new administration of caretaker governor John Koang Nyuon.
These group, ostensibly around Wal Athiu, argue that the caretaker governor has the constitutional powers and rights to appoint new government officials that he can fully trust and comfortable to work with in his new administration. Should the same people who have been working under former governor, Kuol Manyang Juuk, be recycled under the new administration, they demand to know.
As to the question of why a Nuer should be ruling the Greater Bor Dinka people, this group maintains that the Greater Bor Dinka community has a stark choice to make: either to break away from Jonglei state altogether like the GPAA and claim their own state or be prepared to be ruled by Nuer governors forever as the Nuer community has the numbers to win any gubernatorial election in all future polls, starting with the one in June 2015.
That is to say that the Greater Bor Community is actually in bed with Riek Machar for the creation of 21 states proposed by the rebels. If that is their choice, they say, then they should officially come forward and demand for the creation of a brand new state like David Yau Yau instead of cowardly hiding behind innocent women to fight their political wars against caretaker governor John Koang who has been one of the most patriotic sons of South Sudan since he left for the bush in 1983.
What is happening in NBeG and Jonglei states has been the norm in Unity state since Dr. Joseph Nguen Monytuil ascended to the caretaker governorship there. Because Governor Monytuil’s brother—Bapiny Monytuil—has been fighting against Juba, most people in Unity state had reckoned that the appointment of Joseph Monytuil was part of the secret deal signed between President Kiir and the rebels of Bapiny Monytuil.
Whereas Taban Deng had been a potent rival of Riek Machar in Unity state, his removal from the gubernatorial post compelled him to close ranks with Riek Machar in their combined fight to reclaim the governorship from Nguen Monytuil. According to the government, it was Taban Deng who masterminded the purported failed coup of December 15th, 2013. Bentiu in Unity state, the seat of power for caretaker governor Nguen Monytuil, has been turned into a battlefield ever since the fighting erupted in Juba on December 15th. Unlike other state governors in the country, caretaker governor Nguen Monytuil has been on the run since December 2013.
With the details of the transitional government being finalized in Addis Ababa, it is most likely that Unity state would be on top of the list among those states Riek Machar’s rebels would demand governorship as part of the power sharing deal. Therefore, more than any other governor in the entire country, caretaker governor Joseph Nguen Monytuil has more reasons to be worried about the future than the past.
Caretaker Governor Nguen Monytuil’s political future is therefore desperately hanging in the balance. His gubernatorial plight, already much compounded by the December 15th conflict, could get exacerbated by the attainment of peace in Addis Ababa. If he were to be replaced with a rebel governor, it might as well be the case that he would be tempted to go to the bush with his brother Bapiny Monytuil.
Lastly, there is the tragic case of caretaker governor Matur Chut Dhuol in whom much hope was invested to end the cycle of violence and targeted revenge killing among the Agaar Dinka community of Lakes state. Caretaker governor Matur Chut has failed miserably. Instead of bringing a swift, bold end to the cycle of violence, he has effectively exacerbated it, with many local people accusing him of being part and parcel of the problem. He is blamed for taking side after the killing of his own brother, Paramount Chief Apareer Chut Dhuol, who was gunned down in August 2014 by unknown gunmen in a suspected case of targeted revenge killing.
The escalation of violence and revenge killings under the leadership of Gen. Matur Chut compelled the council of state ministers in Juba to impeach him in 2014. But Gen. Matur Chut, like the currently embattled caretaker governor of NBeG state, Kuel Aguer, remained defiant, dismissing the vote of no confidence against his leadership as inconsequential and void since it did not come from the president or the state assembly.
Caretaker governor Matur Chut went ahead and dissolved his cabinet and unilaterally appointed and swore in a new one without the blessing of the state assembly, contrary to the state constitution. Nowadays, there is a great troubling stalemate not just about the cycle of violence but also on how to wean Gen. Matur Chut from the state governorship that he has come to regard as his birthright.
Indeed, the plight of caretaker governors in the republic of South Sudan is an embarrassing blot on the much publicizes democratic credentials and constitutionality of our government in Juba. Had the government strictly adhered to the stipulation of the transitional constitution and conduct gubernatorial elections within 60 days, the current crisis of leaderships in Jonglei, Lakes, Unity and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states might have been much reduced and well managed.
A fear-griped Bortown, a dangerous Rumbek, an embattled Bentiu or a police-ruled Aweil town is not a badge of honor for President Salva Kiir Mayaardit. Sooner than later, the government must commence looking into the plight of the caretaker governors with a clear view to solving their trademark predicaments—scare-taker governors.
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