Kiir accepts Olony as Upper Nile governor
SPLM-IO nominee for Upper Nile state governor General Johnson Olony (Photo credit: Supplied)
July 2, 2020 (SSNN) – South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has accepted the appointment of General Johnson Olony as the governor of the oil-rich Upper Nile state, several opposition officials have said.
The abrupt change of mind from the South Sudanese head of state comes a few days after refusing to appoint the former rebel general who has been nominated by the SPLM-IO, a main signatory to the revitalized peace agreement, led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.
Kiir had argued that the people of Apadang community do not want Olony and asked the SPLM-IO to replace him with another nominee from other tribe.
“Yes the president has accepted. The appointment will be made on Monday,” one senior opposition official who is familiar with the mater told South Sudan News Now from the capital Juba on phone
Another opposition official confirmed that president Kiir dropped the demand that he create an administrative area for the Apadang community if the SPLM-IO was to insist on nominating Olony who the Dinka section accuses of being a divisive figure in the oil-rich state.
“The president has also dropped the demand for Administrative Area for the Apadang community. The people of Upper Nile state are one and should not be divided. Olony is a peace-loving person and the government should tarnish his image before the people of South Sudan,” the official said.
This morning, Dut Majokdit, a senior member of the SPLM-IO in northern Bahr el Ghazal told South Sudan News Now from Juba that the demand for an administrative area for the people of Apadang is not acceptable to the SPLM-IO and the peace agreement.
He said the main armed opposition group was a nation-wide movement that can serve at all level of the governments. He said his group has rejected the demand by Kiir that Olony return to Juba before his appointment.
“This is not logic. The narrative from the government that Olony come to Juba first before he is being appointed is nonsense because some of the governors who were appointed were not in the country,” the official said from Juba on phone this morning.
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