Olony rejects newly appointed Upper Nile governor, will decide ‘way forward’

JUBA – Former SPLM-IO gubernatorial nominee for Upper Nile state General Johnson Olony Thabo has said that he rejects the appointment of Budhok Ayang Kur as governor of Upper Nile state saying he will decided now what happens next.

This evening Kiir issued a republican decree appointing Ayang – whose name was submitted by Dr. Riek Machar to replace General Johnson Olony on Thursday – as governor of Upper Nile state ending several months of standoff between Kiir and Machar over who should be governor of the oil-rich territory.

However, in an apparent show of incoherence within the main armed opposition group over the nomination of the newly appointed governor, General Johnson Olony Thabo is saying that he won’t accept the replacement saying he will convene with his leadership to decide what comes next.

“These is a very strange move,” General Johnson Olony said. “A few days ago, we wrote to the Chairman Dr. Riek Machar Teny and we made it very clear to him that the leadership of the former Fashoda federal state is not for what he asked for. We haven’t changed that position yet and any change to the initial SPLM-IO nomination is not acceptable to us.”

The senior embattled opposition commander said a wider consultation among senior SPLM-IO military leadership will take place to look whether the changes made this evening are a violation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“Of course this will not be my decision alone. There will be a wider decision and we will bring all the military leadership of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) because if this is a violation, it will not be me alone who will work to say it because it is a collective job and then we will decide the way forward,” he added.

Over the weekend, senior opposition members told Sudans Post that the main armed opposition leader Dr. Machar had agreed to relinquish his plan to replace General Johnson Olony Thabo and it remains unclear what caused the abrupt change of mind.