Nov 18, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — South Sudan’s main armed opposition, the SPLM/A-IO has nominated a senior politician from Western Bahr el Ghazal State as its interim Secretary General replacing the former Secretary General Tingo Peter who resigned last week over what he terms as “the poor management” of the party.
In a nomination process that saw a huge turnout in the capital, Juba, the SPLM/A-IO Political Bureau (PB) and National liberation Council (NLC) nominated Regina Joseph Kaba as the new interim Secretary General.
Regina will become the third most senior in the hierarchy of the SPLM/A-IO and the second most powerful women in Western Bahr el Ghazal after governor Sarah Cleto Rial who was appointed in February by Machar.
Although Regina’s appointment could tilt gender power balance in Western Bahr el Ghazal, her appointment is highly celebrated both in Juba and also in Wau.
The today’s meeting was chaired by the Chairman and C-in-C of the SPLM/A-IO, Dr Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, the First Vice President of Republic of South Sudan.
In spite of holding conferences and meeting foreign dignitaries there are fears that Machar could be under house arrest, an allegation Machar decided to downplay.
The SPLM/A-IO has been rocked by many challenges as its senior leadership keeps defecting and blaming Dr. Machar of being a hard neck to twist around.
While defecting last week, following many years of perseverance, Hon Tingo Peter accused Machar of running the party like a personal property.
“I, the undersigned Cde Tingo Peter Regbigo Limbo have resigned from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition the SPLM-I0 as of today Tuesday November 10, 2020, following your lack of display of good leadership,” Tingo stated in his resignation.
“I have spent seven years working along your side as Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, and Governor of Wau Federal state from (2014 -2016) and as SPLM-IO Secretary General from 2016 to November 2020;
“During these seven years working with you, you have handled the movement single-handed which led to lack of progress in the movement. During all this period, you have run the movement without transparency, especially when it comes to decision making process, and you did not respect institutional structures established by the party’s constitution.”
Although many junior politicians came to Machar’s defense, the chairman did not bother to respond or address the underlying root causes.
Tingo was the second Secretary General to defect after Dr. Dhieu Mathok and other senior politicians that include the former Deputy Chairman Alfred Lado who defected alongside Taban Deng Gai, the then Chief Negotiator, among other politicians and generals.
The Interim Secretary General, Regina Joseph Kaba, has climbed the ladder in the shortest time possible.
Less than two years ago Regina was a member of the divided Former Political Detainees (FDS) but since she joined the SPLMA/-IO, she served as the deputy chairperson of the DDR Commission, deputizing Ayuen Alier Jongroor of the TGoNU, from its inception in September 2019.
