I’m not seeking to replace Kiir, says Kuol Manyang
The Senior Presidential Advisor, Gen Kuol Manyang Juuk, has said that he has no intention of taking over the reins of power in the SPLM ahead of the 2023 election.
Kuol said power is sought through a majority vote, and if he happens to be looking for the position, then it has to be something that can be decided within the party.
“How can we split the SPLM now and even in the future? Why split it? “If the president thinks that he is losing power, and I wanted that position, then we call people for the meeting, and (make) a decision as a convention,” he said, in a video shared by South Sudan Digital on the YouTube platform.
“And if he sees that the majority are for me, he could also step down and say okay thank you because he respects the majority. That will be up to him. Will he say no, if Kuol has come to take this, then I am dividing the SPLM, I don’t think he will do that. He will be happy to go home, leaving the SPLM intact.”
He stressed that he had not disclosed his willingness to overtake the President and, therefore, such information should be disregarded.
“So, for me, I never discussed it with anybody. Nobody came to me or approached me on that. And I am saying nothing but the truth. So, that is my advice, “he concluded.
The Presidential Advisor also said that there were people in Western countries who had been insulting him and even singing songs about him, but he had to leave them alone because there should be freedom of expression.
We are corrupt
Gen Kuol has been in the limelight with sharp-shooting political statements that leave political followers’ heads scratching, and perhaps, drooling for more.
Last year, during the thanksgiving ceremony of the governor of Lakes State, Gen Rin Tueny Mabor, Gen Kuol claimed that all the politicians were corrupt because of insecurity and the economic downturn, which forced them to use all means to acquire wealth, even through tainted approaches.
“On our side, we are also corrupt in our government because of the insecurity in the countryside; when you go to the homes of our Members of Parliament and Ministers, they [are also] corrupt because they get money so that they can feed their people,” he said.
“They make the contracts so [that] they can get money from there because of the pressure and insecurity in the countryside. We are not able to feed our people and the people cannot be able to save their property. We became politically independent, but economic independence is not there. “‘
He maintained that peace was the only remedy and should begin at an individual level as a responsibility of every citizen.
“Peace is not the work of only one person. It [must] be done by all of us. Every one of us has a role to play in making peace. Bring peace back because peace has gone away from us and peace does not come by itself,” he said.
“Now we have the constitution, and it has addressed all these: how we develop the country from the resources we have. If there is no peace, there are no lives. Peace and life go together, and if there is no law what do you expect? “
In March 2021, Gen Kuol opened up claiming that the government had failed in meeting the needs of the citizens.
Presidential directive
In August 2021, President Salva Kiir Mayardit directed government officials to deliver satisfactory services to citizens.
‘‘You will also find many areas of agreement in your legislative agenda when the country and its people take centre stage in your deliberations. I know the parties who nominated you to matter, but I call upon all of you to place the people of South Sudan above any narrow party interest,’’ the president advised.
He called for speedy implementation of the various chapters of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), to prepare the country for free, fair, and credible elections.
“We continue to implement the various chapters and provisions of the Revitalized Peace Agreement; we should always remember that our final mandate in this process is to hold free, fair, and credible democratic elections at the end of the Transitional Period,” said the President.
“This means, giving people the power to choose their leaders. And this is a collective responsibility that we must shoulder because it is the only way we can achieve political stability in our country.”
