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Sudan Tribune

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Political uncertainty as N. Bahr el Ghazal governor removed

April 15, 2015 (WAU) – South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal state has been hit by a political wrangle following Monday’s presidential decree removing caretaker governor Kuel Aguer Kuel.

Northern Bahr el Ghazal's former caretaker governor Kuel Aguer Kuel at his office on 7 March 2014 (ST)
Northern Bahr el Ghazal’s former caretaker governor Kuel Aguer Kuel at his office on 7 March 2014 (ST)
The decision was announced by president Salva Kiir on Monday and comes amid ongoing political chaos state between MPs and Kuel after he was impeached by the assembly in January.

It was alleged Kuel had mismanaged public funds and violated the transitional state constitution after he appointed more than two advisors. There were also claims he had issued a letter of credit worth $3 millions to his son, allegations he denies.

Following his impeachment, a national investigative committee headed by Daniel Awet Akot compiled a report, which was then filed with the president in February. He took nearly two months to decide.

Kuel’s dismissal drew reactions among the state’s high-ranking politicians and MPs remain divided since the news was broadcast on the state-owned South Sudan Television (SSTV).

Senior NBGS political analyst Angelo Atak Akol told Sudan Tribune that the governor had a good track record in delivering services to the people.

“I do believe that a good leader is a person who does what his people want, a good [leader] is a person who takes good care of [his] administration when he is in power, a good leader is that who is practical in leading his own people and does what he says. The few I have mentioned were the systems how Kuel was doing,” he said.

Akol said ongoing political uncertainty in the state was already having an effect on current market prices and the availability of consumer goods.

“There was a hope that if the governor or any caretaker was here, then he should be accountable,” he said. “To me, the worst part of it is that [a] one party system without accountability is bad, we want free democracy not [the] guided democracy as we are in,” he said.

NBGS parliamentary speaker Isaac Makau Ayok, who played a key role in Kuel’s impeachment, also welcomed Kiir’s decision.

“It is very good news and I am very happy, because this is the person that has been impeached by the assembly and that is the constitutional mandate of the assembly, and he has been impeached due to the gross misconduct, that he has not been following the constitution of the state,” said Ayok.

“We are happy and we appreciate the decision taken by the president and that was our hope because the president was elected by the people and the person impeached by the people is also [within] the mandate and jurisdiction of the president to implement the will and the welfare of NBGS people,” he added.

However, MP Joseph Rol Gau criticised Kuel’s removal of Kuel, saying he would have delivered a number of development projects for the benefit of the people.

“Kuel was a very good governor in NBGS, he was working well, he was
insisting to make to make many developmental things in the state,” he said, adding the decision as disappointing for the Aweil community.

Gau said Kuel had been victimised by some state politicians in the state and that
their accusations had proved strong enough to have him removed.

Kuel becomes the first state governor to be removed by the state parliament and backed by the president since the country gained independence from Sudan in 2011. There are also mounting calls in Lakes state for the removal of caretaker governor Matur Chut Dhuol.

(ST)

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