JUBA – Prominent South Sudan opposition leader, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, is saying that President Salva Kiir Mayardit has no power to appoint members of the local and state governments, two days after Kiir and his first deputy, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, agreed to form the state and local governments, giving Kiir a go-ahead to appoint local government and states officials.
On Wednesday, the presidency said in a statement that Kiir and his five vice-presidents agreed to give him a go ahead to appoint local and state government officials of 9 states with the exception of the Upper Nile where a dispute between SPLM-IG and SPLM-IO, over General Johnson Olony Thabo, is yet to be resolved.
However, in an opinion article he published on Friday, Dr. Lam who is also the chairperson of the country’s opposition National Democratic Movement (NDM), said Kiir has no power to appoint the state and local government officials, saying the powers belong to the governors and the country officials appointed under the deal.
“In my humble opinion, the President of the Republic has no power to appoint States’ Governments. Of the numerous powers of the President under Article 101(they are 20) none is the appointment of State Governments. On the other hand, Article 164 (2) of the Transitional Constitution 2011, is clear that it is the Governor that appoints and relieves members of his Government,” Dr. Lam said. pointing to Article (2) stipulates of the constitution which stipulates that: “The Governor of each state shall be the head of the executive organ in the state and shall appoint and relieve the Deputy Governor, Advisors and state Ministers in consultation with the President and in accordance with the state constitution.”
“For sure, the decision of the Presidency is a usurpation of powers of the States’ Governors granted them by the Constitution. It becomes more puzzling when it is the Presidency which heads the national executive charged with implementing the mandate of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) that goes contrary to that mandate,” Dr. Lam said.
“Article 1.2.15 of R-ARCSS stipulates that one of the functions of RTGoNU is to ‘devolve more powers and resources to the State and Local Government levels.’ Far from implementing this article, the Presidency is busy concentrating more powers into the hands of the President.
“It is common knowledge that Parties to the Agreement have been engaged for the last couple of months in negotiations on the formation of States’ Governments. They reached agreements on that. However, the responsibility of the Parties stops there.
“What should have happened was for the Parties to write a joint letter to the Governors of the States informing them of the agreements that have been reached for those Governors to issue Decrees appointing their Governments in accordance with the Transitional Constitution and the Constitution of each State, and supervise their taking of the oath of office.”
