By Rial Nyang Kuot
Opinion
August 26th,2014 (Nyamilepedia) –The National Parliament yesterday resolved and passed unanimously that the care-taker Governor of Lakes state be removed and that they have dispatched the letter to the president for approval.
Well, I am strongly against that resolution because I am seeing that the removal of the Governor Matur will be the calm before the storm.
The reason for saying this is because the problem of Lakes state is deep-rooted and just removing the Governor is not a solution. Many Governors have been appointed and nothing tangible with regards to peace and stability has been seen.
It started with Gen Zakaria Laat,then came Gen Daniel Awet,the most senior SPLM member and formerly an Alternate Member of the Poltical Military High Command(PMHC).Things did not improve and instead went from bad to worse.Then Justice Tellar Riing Deng Takpiny,now the Legal Adviser to the President of the Republic Salva Kiir, was appointed as a care-taker governor.Nothing helped and instead the intensity of the killing increased.Engineer Tong Chol was elected a Governor in the general elections of 2010 and there continued the instability and insecurity characterized by inter-clans fighting with attacks and revenge attacks.
The President was misadvised by some disaffected and disgruntled Juba MPs of Lakes state with some ministers and he issued a Republican decree relieving Chol Tong Mayay and pursuant to state of emergency laws,he appointed the incumbent Governor Gen Matur Chut and still the situation is never improving.Now the Lakes State MPs in Juba have lobbied and managed to force or manipulated the Speaker to summon the security ministers(Defense,Interior and National Security) so that they recommended a vote of no confidence for the removal of the Governor Chut.
The author was keen to note that the national Security Minister was blunt that the Governor be removed.
Now the question that poses itself is that, who is going to perform miracles in Lakes State and restore stability and security and deemed more powerful than Gen Matur? If Gen Daniel Awet could not cope with that security situation, who else is capable of doing that and which State is secure apart from Western Equatoria State and to a lesser degree Western Bharel Ghazal ?
I have the impression that the Lakes State MPs should go down to the grass-roots to establish the causes of this senseless inter-clans fighting. Swapping Governors is not a solution. One remarkable, exceptional and commendable leadership quality Gen Matur has shown is that he has now managed to calm down his own clan following the barbaric assassination of the paramount chief,his own sibling brother.
I have understood that his daughter killed a pregnant woman and that she has been arrested awaiting trial and Gen Matur said he would welcome any court verdict.What other sacrifices do you want? These are rare qualities specially in the communities in the whole of Lakes State. Insecurity has engulfed the whole country .Finally I want to remind our August House that Governor Matur was not elected but appointed by the President.
It is a prerogative of the same President to remove him. I am calling upon the Honorable Juba MPS of Lakes State to sit down with the traditional and local chiefs so that the bloodshed is put to a halt.At last but not the least,I am advising H.E,Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit not to be misled and be vigilant because there are MPs and ministers with hidden agenda and would want to plunge this country into hell.So,better the devil you know than the devil you do not know. this is an opinion and a food for thought.
The author can be reached at kuotrailnyang@yahoo.com
1 comment
I think our politician always put their interests in a black well covered bucket outside it, is peace, stability, liberty, prosperity, justice and development and begin to say that this is what the public want while the public is completely isolated and not aware of who is using their names and for what benefit. These politicians are the one in the current parliament, speak in the mouth of other journalist, critics and civil society organization claiming to be the right people. Not to waste time the removal of caretaker governor is not really a solution to Lakes state problems. Even though you send Jesus Christ without declaring state of emergency with military power of fire scouting still there will be no peace and stability in Lakes state. I know some of my colleagues on social media are critical to Mr. Matur because they are looking at the politics that bring profit/gain to themselves but Matur is not a problem at all.
Finally I would suggest that the president should declare the state of emergency, reinstate Gen. Matur into army, transfer all organize forces of Lakes state to other states and get forces from other state, dissolve the state parliament, do a fresh appointment and give the governor power of fire scouting.