April 18, 2020 (Nyamilepedia) — Former South Sudan senior SPLM-IO member Dak Duop Bichiok who defected from Dr. Riek Machar this week is demanding that President Salva Kiir offer him governorship of Upper Nile state, sources close to him said on Saturday from the capital Juba.
Dak Duop Bichiok, a senior member of the SPLM-IO and former minister of petroleum on the ticked of the Machar-led movement in the unity government which collapsed in July 2016 defected on Wednesday saying Machar had turned the group into a “family dynasty.”
He defected along with nine (9) others who felt that they were left out by Machar who has been rewarded only nine (9) ministers in the revitalized unity government by the 2018 peace agreement.
Speaking to Nyamilepedia this evening, a senior member of the group who defected along with Dak Duop said they were demanding the governorship of the Upper Nile state and that they were planning to meet Kiir this week.
“We have contacted the office of the President and we are organizing a meeting with him,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“What we are saying is that this is time for development and not corruption I’m our country. We want to develop our country and as such the president should give us the governorship of Upper Nile state,” he added.
The official said reports that the state was being negotiated for the SPLM-IO were not yet confirmed and warned President Salva Kiir against “offering state governors to militias who are not trusted.”
