Nov 17, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Briefing a Press Conference today in Juba, the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, David Shearer, reiterated that the appointment of Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony has been approved by President Salva Kiir but delayed by Gen. Olony’s refusal to come to Juba.
“It’s been agreed to. I think the government is saying that he should come to Juba, as you would expect any governor of any country, you would expect him to do that.” SRSG David Shearer said.
According to David Shearer, if Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony comes to Juba today he will take up his position as soon as he arrives.
“So as soon as that happens, my feeling is that he can take up his position.” Shearer said.
Shearer calls on people to move on with life and stop dwelling on Olony’s appointment saying that such a mentality will only create a backlog and nothing will get done.
“So I would very much encourage everybody to start moving on that and not hold one thing dependent on another, and dependent on another, which creates a backlog, and therefore it stops progress.” Shearer said.
Shearer’s statement came after similar controversial statements that acknowledged Olony’s appointment but also claimed president Kiir has either changed his mind or he has not yet decided.
“I’m not yet informed whether Olony will be appointed or not. As soon as I’m informed, I will let you know.” Wek said.
According to the Minister of Petroleum, Hon. Puot Kang Chuol, who spoke to reporters on Monday, President Kiir initially agreed to appoint Gen. Olony but has so far backtracked from that decision.
“We were previously informed that the President has agreed to appoint the governor of Upper Nile but I cannot be in a better position to tell you what will transpire next -I don’t know….We are, therefore, humbly asking the public -including His Excellency the President to speed up the appointment of General Olony so that they are also not left behind.” Said Puot Kang on Monday.
According to Puot Kang, the SPLM/A-IO has finalized its bettings for local government representatives but their lists will not be submitted until Olony is appointed.
“We have finished all our consultations at grass root and we are ready with our lists and as soon as the governor we will submit all out lists for all tens plus three administrative areas,” Puot Kang said.
Without the appointment of Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony, the SPLM/A-IO will not move forward.
“We want to move forward but Upper Nile is one of the states, you don’t have ten states without Upper Nile, the same way, you will not have ten states without any other state in the Republic of South Sudan,” Puot continued.
“We are therefore, humbling, asking the President to speed up the appointment of General Johnson Olony so the people of Upper Nile are not left behind, they deserve to have the government like any other state in South Sudan,” Puot stressed his point..
In another report, a senior SPLM/A-IO official, Hon. Nathaniel Pierino, the former SPLM-IO Governor of the now defunct Imatong State and the SPLM-IO representative to the National Constitution Amendment Committee (NCAC), said Dr. Machar and President Kiir have reached consensus on Olony’s appointment and that Kiir is just waiting to appoint him.
“In principle, the president has accepted the responsibility that lies with the SPLM/A-IO to nominate its candidate for the position of the governor for Upper Nile.” Hon. Pierino said.
“What the president is waiting for is just to appoint and this is where we have been engaging with him and we have reached some critical steps towards the appointment of Gen. Johnson Olony.” He added.
Despite these consensuses, President Kiir continues to express fear that if he appoints Olony, the SPLM/A-IO senior general may cause havocs in Upper Nile state leaving doubts on who is more powerful between the president of the country and a governor of a state.
The appointment of Gen. Olony remains one of the vital issues that are delaying the implementation of the R-ARCISS.
