May 30, 2021 — The governor of Wester Bahr el Ghazal state, Hon. Sarah Cleto Rial, a senior member of the SPLM in Opposition and her deputy, Hon. Angelo Taban Biajo of the SPLM-IG have been in a mini power struggle since the appointment of the Mayor of Wau Municipality in March this year, a similar scenario in neighboring Jonglei state, however, the two are reportedly reaching meaningful censuses.
According to senior officials from Western Bahr-el-Ghazal state, the two senior officials, Cleto and Taban, have been spotted smiling and expressing willingness to work together following their return from the capital, Juba, last week.
The internal fallout in Western Barh el Ghazal was first reported to Nyamilepedia in March 2021 after the governor appointed Hon. Paulino Saed Uku as the mayor of Wau Municipal Council, something the deputy governor thought he should have been consulted on and endorsed.
Like in Jonglei State scenario, the deputy governor went on to block the new mayor from taking office to carry on his assigned duties.
According to his side of story, DG Taban is accusing Governor Cleto of making unilateral decisions without consulting him which he believes is against the revitalized peace agreement.
After the leadership crisis deepened and rumours reached Juba, the two leaders were summoned by their chairpersons and given mini lectures on how to resolve the matter and work together. That happened two weeks ago!
The governor and her deputy returned to Wau earlier this week and shown positive signs that a progress has been made in resolving their differences.
Angelo Taban returned to Wau on Sunday while Governor Cleto returned on Wednesday.
Briefing the cabinet on Wednesday, Governor Cleto sworn that the matter has been resolved completely and that the mayor will now take the oath and preform his duties without further obstructions.
“The mayor has to go to office without any condition and the deputies will be appointed and we will sit to see how these appointments will be made and this is according to the agreement and this is what people need to know. I said earlier that I will give one deputy to the SPLM-IG and another to Other Political Parties,” said Governor Sarah Cleto.
“We have sat as the citizens of this state and we agreed to open a new page because we have a lot ahead of us. The citizens are suffering, differences just over the town mayor are minor issues and that should not be an obstacle to block our cooperation of working together in the state,” The governor continued.
On the other hand, the deputy governor confirms that the two leaders have stopped competing with one another and that they have buried their differences and opened a new page.
“We agreed not to compete. We have now closed the page and we have to open a new chapter in the state and the mayor should go to his office and we continue to the issue of appointing deputies,” Deputy Governor Taban said.
Meanwhile in Jonglei State, the governor and his deputy still can’t share the table as their grievances continue to deepen.
