Machar on the way to meet Kiir – aide

South Sudan’s First Vice-president designate, Dr. Riek Machar, is pictured during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy, April 12, 2019. (Photo credit: REUTERS)

June 30, 2020 (SSNN) – South Sudan’s First Vice President and leader of the country’s main armed opposition group, SPLM-IO, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, is on his way to J1 to meet President Salva Kiir Mayardit on the issue of Upper Nile state governor, a senior opposition official has said.

The expected meeting between Kiir and Machar which is set for 10:30 AM will – according to the senior SPLM-IO official – discuss the reasons why Johnson Olony, the SPLM-IO nominee for Upper Nile state, was not appointed yesterday.

“The First Vice President H.E Dr. Riek Machar Teny who is also the SPLM/SPLA (IO) Chairman and Commander in Chief is now leaving for the Statehouse to meet President Salva Kiir on the issue of the Upper Nile state governor,” the senior SPLM-IO official told South Sudan News Now from Juba.

“He will ask him why he did not appoint General Johnson Olony. The SPLM-IO is a movement that is a main signatory to the revitalized peace agreement and has been given the right to choose who it wants in a position,” the official added.

On Monday night, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told South Sudan News Now on phone from Juba that Kiir didn’t appoint the SPLM-IO nominee because he was not in the capital claiming that all the appointed state governors were in Juba.

However, a senior SPLM-IO official denied in a statement the reality in Makuei’s claim. He said that there was a complaint from the Apadang community of Upper Nile state – out of ‘tribal mindset’ – rejecting Olony’s appointment.

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