President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the First Vice President Riek Machar have been advised to resolve amicably the current impasse over the sacking of the SPLM-IO leaning Minister of Defense and veterans Affairs Angelina Teny.
“I am calling on the two principals, the president and the First Vice President to meet and sort out these differences, because the letter of the SPLM-IO is calling on the President to revoke the decree that means the chances of us going to the pathway of political instability is high,” Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) told The Juba Echo in Juba on Sunday.
President Kiir last week issued a republican decree sacking the defense minister Angelina Teny and Interior Minister Mahmoud Solomon.
Another decree, issued by the President said the ministry of defense will now be controlled by SPLM-IG whereas the ministry of interior will go to SPLM-IO.
“If the decree which is not in line with the spirit of agreement is imposed on the SPLM-IO, this may have consequences on the implementation of the roadmap in term of security and of unification of forces,” Yakani said.
The SPLM-IO political bureau on Saturday denied having consented to sacking of Teny and instead called for the latter’s reinstatement.
Yakani said that the decree to swap the ministries is not justified by any provision in the 2018 revitalized agreement.
“This act is giving us an indicator of panic and that things may not go smoothly, I would like to take this opportunity to urge our leaders to take primary responsibility of respecting the life of innocent citizens who have been suffering since 2013 because of pockets of violence,” Yakani said.
