Kiir asked to also reinstate Angelina Teny

JUBA, MARCH 6, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan activist and economist Peter Biar Ajak has welcomed the decision of President Salva Kiir Mayardit last night to reinstate the speaker of Jonglei state parliament and asked him to also reinstate the defense minister.

In a presidential decree read out on the state-own South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) yesterday, Kiir reinstated Amer Ateny Alier who he had removed from her position in January under unclear circumstances.

The presidential decree was issued hours after a meeting between Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar who is also the leader of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).

In a tweet reacting to the reinstatement of the Jonglei State parliamentary speaker, Peter Biar described the move by Kiir as a show of political maturity, but then asked the head of state to also revoke his decision removing Angelina Teny and taking away the defense ministry portfolio from the SPLM-IO.

“Learning to admit one’s mistakes is a symbol of growth and maturity, however little it is. I am glad President Kiir revoked this unilateral decree,” Biar wrote in the tweet seen by Sudans Post.

“He should now revoke the unilateral decrees removing the minister of defense and the swapping of defense and interior ministers,” he added.

KIIR-MACHAR RELATIONS SOURED

Kiir on 3 March 2023 issued a presidential decree sacking Angelina Teny of the main armed opposition SPLM-IO as the minister of defense.

Based on the revitalized peace agreement, the position should be occupied by a person from the main armed opposition SPLM-IO under Machar.

But Kiir went on a swapped the ministry of defense with the ministry of interior which he gave to the SPLM-IO in return for losing the ministry of defense.

The move was rejected by the SPLM-IO resulting in soured relations between the two main signatories of the revitalized peace agreement.

Despite the SPLM-IO rejection, Kiir last week issued a decree appointing his ally as the minister of defense.

Machar yet again decried the latest move as a “blatant violation” of the revitalized peace agreement and called on Kiir, an important peace partner, to revoke his decision.

Kiir’s allies say the president had to take the defense ministry to consolidate his control of the security sector ahead of elections.