Governor Futuyo to appear before Council of States today

Western Equatoria Governor Gen. Alfred Futuyo is expected to appear today, March 1, 2022, before the Council of States to respond to questions.

The governors of Western Equatoria, Warrap, Unity, and Jonglei States were earlier summoned by the Council of States to answer questions about security and governance issues in their respective States.

Confirming the governor’s arrival in Juba on Monday for the session, Futuyo’s Press Secretary, Alex Daniel told The City Review that his boss was ready to answer the lawmakers’ relevant questions on the state’s affairs.

“[Governor Futuyo] is in Juba for the same issue that was suspended last week, and he will appear before the [Council of States] tomorrow (Tuesday),” Daniel said.

It remains uncertain whether Warrap and Janglei’s state governors would join Futuyo as Governor of Unity State and Chief Administrator of Ruweng had already appeared before the Council States last week.

Chief Administers of Pibor and Abyei are also expected to answer questions on a day to be arranged.

The seven areas – Western Equatoria, Warrap, Unity, Jonglei States, and Special Administrative Areas of Ruweng, Abyei, and Pibor, have been witnessing subnational violence over the past year.

In Western Equatoria, besides leaders’ polarization along party lines, inter-communal violence left hundreds dead and thousands displaced between May and September 2021.

Governor Futuyo accused the area’s prominent politicians of funding the conflict with the intentions to derail his administration but those whom he accused denied, turning the blame on him.

Though the plan to reconcile the warring communities remains uncertain, some thousands of families displaced from Tombura County to neighboring areas have been returning homes amidst basic services scarcity.

Governor Futuyo last week said he would use the opportunity to explore solutions to the challenges affecting his state, pointing out that though his summons was suspended, he would still pursue other avenues to normalize the situation in Western Equatoria State.

“The governor was very excited when he received the summon as it was indicated that they were going to discuss security and governance issue, hoping that they would also give some advice that he would go apply to normalize things in the state but unfortunately he received the notification of the date of appearance has been adjourned indefinitely,” Futuyo’s office said.