Gunfire erupts in Wau over governor’s replacement

WAU – Heavy gunfire erupted in Wau, the capital of Western Bahr el Ghazal state, on Sunday night in protest against President Salva Kiir’s replacement of the country’s only female governor, multiple local sources and a senior opposition military official said.

Local residents told Sudans Post on Monday morning that gunfire broke out in the southern and western parts of the state capital, Wau. While no injuries were reported, the incident heightened fears of a return to conflict amid ongoing tensions in Juba.

“I can confirm that there was shooting in the western and southern parts of Wau yesterday, and it went on from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. This was terrible given the ongoing tensions and Friday’s war in Juba, which sends fears to anyone that this could be a return to full-blown conflict,” said on resident who identified himself as Jackson.

Gabriel Bol Wek, the SPLA-IO commander for Brigade 4 of the group’s 6A Infantry Division who instructed his forces to block the new governor from visiting Jur River region, confirmed the incident to Sudans Post in a separate phone call.

He said the gunfire involved both SSPDF and SPLA-IO soldiers, with some residents demanding the reinstatement of Sarah Cleto Hassan Rial, while others called for an alternative to her successor, Emmanuel Primo Okello.

“Yes, the gunfire that you see happening yesterday comes from Wau, and it was not the SPLA-IO only so that people don’t say this and that. It included SSPDF soldiers, and SPLA-IO soldiers are there, and it is their right to have a say in the person who governs them,” he said.

The unrest comes two weeks after Kiir dismissed Cleto, who was appointed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), the main armed opposition led by First Vice President Riek Machar.

Kiir announced the changes on state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), naming Okello, SPLM-IO chairperson of the standing committee at the national secretariat, as the new governor.

Two days later, Gabriel Bol issued a written order instructing SPLA-IO forces in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Jur River County not to welcome the new governor to the region, including payams and bomas of the Greater Jur area.

SPLM-IO officials confirmed that Cleto’s replacement was requested by Machar. Dut Majokdit, a member of the SPLM-IO’s National Liberation Council, told Sudans Post that Machar had formally sought the changes in a letter to Kiir, though the timing of the request was not specified.