Juba, South Sudan
July 17, 2022 — South Sudan First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, has refuted claims by the President Salva Kiir’s office that it has not aware of dredging and dismissed them as “false”.
Last June, the Press Secretary at Ministry of water resources and irrigation, Mr. Gattiek Wichar, announced the arrival of heavy dredging machinery from Egypt in preparation for a government dredging exercise to clear NAam River and Barh El Gazal Basin.
President Kiir’s press secretary claimed that the government had not approved the dredging, saying J1 knows nothing about the arrival of those machines, a move that sparked public outcry with calls for the government to conduct an evidence-based studies before it go ahead.
But addressing the closing session of the public consultation at Freedom Hall on Thursday, Machar said that the statements coming from the office of the president are not correct and that the government approved the initiative in a council of ministers.
“The rumors that you are hearing that the Presidency or the Office of the President did not know about the dredging, this is false. Because, he the President was the one seating on the Council of Ministers, It wasn’t me who is the next person,” Machar said.
“The resolutions are always told to the public by the spokesperson of the government, that is Michael Makuei, if he is away, then the Minister of Cabinet Affairs. So, we want to correct things, the public may have concerns about the dredging, have we cleared them?” the FVP asked.
