Deputy Minister in trouble after calling to remove SPLM officials

(JUBA) – A deputy minister in South Sudan, who called for the removal of five state chairpersons from South Sudan’s ruling party, has been accused of violating the party’s constitution by addressing party issues through the media, instead of directly petitioning the party’s secretary general.The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) disapproval came in the wake of an open letter written by Salva Mathok Gengdit, the country’s deputy interior minister addressed to the SPLM Secretary General, Pagan Amum, which called for the removal of five current state chairpersons who are said to absent due to their various national obligations.These include the minister for housing and physical planning, Jemma Nunu Kumba (Western Equatoria); deputy speaker of the national assembly, Daniel Awet Akot (Lakes); national assembly members, Mark Nyipoc (Western Bahr el Ghazal) and Joseph Munytil (Unity); and presidential advisor, Tor Deng Mawien (Warrap).Gengdit, also a member of the SPLM national liberation council, alleges that the ruling party has become increasingly unpopular at a grass-roots level due to the “absence” of these five members.“This gap is a concern as a member of the SPLM; our party has a good number of cadets committed to work as volunteers, if they are assigned to those posts. I advise for the removal of those comrades and call national liberation council to elect new members. Time is running out and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be dismantled at grass-roots level,” Gengdit’s statement partly reads.The liberation council is the party’s second highest decision-making body after the congress.In an interview with Sudan Tribune the SPLM spokesman, Mathew Yien, said the party was strongly opposed to members electing to discuss internal party matters with the media or the public………….Continued on page 16