Governor Mabor fires ‘incompetent’ Yirol West Commissioner
The Governor of Lakes State, Rin Tueny Mabor, has suspended the Commissioner of Yirol West County, Andrew Acheng Anhiem, citing incompetence.
The Governor’s press secretary, Mabor Deng Kulang, yesterday told The City Review that Mr Anhiem had been suspended, and an investigation had been ordered into his conduct.
“The commissioner was suspended on November 16, 2021, but had objected to the order. He has now been suspended, and an investigation has been launched into the matter at hand,” Kulang said.
Reason for suspension
The office of the governor released a statement yesterday, alerting the public that the suspension was motivated by disrespect and a lack of proper service delivery from the commissioner.
The statement read, “The office of the governor of Lakes State avails itself of the opportunity to address the citizens of Lakes State, the public and to deconstruct the misleading press statement by some members of R-TNLA representing SPLM-IO.”
“Despite the necessary efforts by the governor to support the Commissioner of Yirol West County, Andrew Acheng Anhiem proved to be a non-starter and opted not to work with the state leadership. He continues to manifest insubordination, misbehaviour, maladministration, and bad performance. “
The office of the governor stated that the recommendations by the governor to the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar, who is the chairperson of SPLM/A-IO, had been fruitless, citing the aforementioned reasons.
The statement said the SPLM-IO’s failure to respond positively to the state’s call showed ill intention.
“It is clear that the SPLM/A-IO leadership lacks mechanisms to solve problems or else their intention to implement R-ARCSS in Lakes State is not a good one,” the statement continued.
“The governor reported twice to the First Vice President and Chairman of SPLM/A-IO requesting the replacement of the commissioner for the reasons mentioned above, but he ignored the recommendation of the governor.”
“Due to this insubordination and misbehaviour, the governor suspended Andrew Acheng Anhiem and formed a committee headed by Poth Madit Dut, the deputy governor and chairman of SPLM/A-IO in Lakes State,” the statement added.
The office of the governor said the commissioner, ignorantly, after his suspension, attended the Greater Yirol students’ graduation ceremony organised by the community in his full capacity before the case was settled, which prompted the security personnel to arrest him.
“Even more, unfortunately, the MPs at R-TNLA representing the SPLM/A-IO rushed to the media and accused the governor of Lakes State of the violation of R-ARCSS and condemned the decision he made to suspend the commissioner. This behaviour is null and void and our legislators should have first investigated and established the facts of what transpired in the suspension of the commissioner,” the statement concluded.
“The Revitalised Peace Agreement cannot be used to mislead the public and protect some incompetent and indiscipline individuals who do not understand the basic system of governance and work in total disregard of the leadership in the state.”
“The leadership of Lakes State is committed to implementing R-ARCSS in letter and spirit with all the parties.”
The City Review reached out to the Spokesperson of the First Vice President Dr Riek Machar, Puok Both Baluang for a response over these allegations, he said: “I am currently outside the office in a meeting but when I return to the office, I shall check the documents to confirm if there was a statement from the governor or the aforesaid document.’’
Restoring order
Since he was appointed as the governor of Lakes State, Rin Tueny has taken measures to ensure law and order is restored in the state. This included voluntary disarmament in the state.
In October 2021, the state police spokesperson, Elijah Mabor Makuac, lauded the governor for making the state a better place to live in as people moved freely without fear of attack.
Makuac said there were no traces of insecurity and communal conflict, only mentioning minor cases of accidents and other social issues.
“People are moving freely without any problems. You can even move a long distance without any problems, unlike in the past. “The communities have an agreement among themselves to cooperate with the state government,” Mabor told The City Review in a telephone interview yesterday.
“Most of the animals that have been raided have been recovered and taken back to their rightful owners because of the measures put in place to address the insecurity in the state. The government set up three courts to address the cases of cattle raiding and other crime-related issues in the state,” he added.
He said the patrol had been introduced in Rumbek as a means to prevent criminal acts and further bloodshed in the state.
