The Governor of Aweil East State has ordered that the recently sacked relief coordinator be placed under house arrest, despite being appointed by the national government.
Deng Deng Akuei replaced Mawien Arol, who was appointed by South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC).
SSRRC is an independent national commission with an independent budget and constitutional mandate to recruit, hire and deploy its employees to different parts of the country to implement objectives for which it was established by an act of parliament.
The motive behind the decision of the governor, until now, remains unclear.
Local officials and area legislators, in series of interviews, told Sudan Tribune that the governor was infuriated by the national government’s decision, which prevented him from making changes.
“They have been looking for me for the last two days. I don’t know why. The governor has directed the security personnel to look for me. They went to my village in Manyiel and Peth, but they did not find me there. They then decided to call today and I told them where I am currently,” Arol said on Friday.
“When I they heard where I am, they said it is better you tell us where you are otherwise it will be rough if it is us going to look for you. So I told them the place and they came. Now I am with them. They are taking me to the detention. I do not know what I have done and I do not know the governor is treating me like this,” he added.
Akec Mel, another official who was removed from his position in the same institution claimed the governor replaced Arol with his relative and declined to the leadership of the relief and rehabilitation body, which deployed Arol to the state from Juba.
“What happened is that the governor last week said he had replaced Mawien Arol with his private secretary, Ngong Acuil Alor, who is his cousin and asked us to hand over the office,” said Mel.
“Because we did not want to be blamed by the headquarters for not letting them know, we forwarded this information to our offices in Juba and they wrote to him [the governor] saying his action undermines the independence of the commission,” he added.
Mel said he has since been detained with a colleague on the governor’s orders.
