The Governor of Jonglei State, Hon. Denay Jock Chagor addressed the 5th governors forum
Residents of Jonglei state express a sense of relief
following the dismissal of their ‘online’ governor Denay Jock Chagor on Wednesday
by president Salva Kiir in a presidential decree read on South Sudan
broadcasting corporation (SSBC).
Kiir fired South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA)’s Denay as
governor of Jonglei state and replaced him with Mahjoub Biel Turuk who was
serving as SSOA’s Chief Whip in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly.
As they celebrate the changes, the residents tasked the
newly appointed governor to address the criminal activities in the state and
provide the needed services including bridging the working relationship between
the organs and institutions of the state government.
Wal Alier, Jonglei state youth leader said the former
governor could not deliver services due to his all-time sitting in Juba which
made it hard for the locals and the state cabinet to access him.
Alier now urged the new governor not to take the footstep of
staying in Juba and manage the state online.
“The leadership style of Former Governor Denay was not
helping the people seriously because it was very hard to get him, he was not
total accessible by the people and rarely meet his people. So, we were just
waiting for this day,” Alier told Mingkaman FM.
“We need the newly appointed governor to stay in the state
all the time. There are a lot of issues happening in the region and it is
because there was no leadership support.”
Another resident, Ms. Mary (not real name) who requested anonymity,
echoed youth leader’s statement attributing insecurity, inadequate services and
unfair market to online leadership invented by the former governor.
She urged the new governor to put the state in order ranging
from economy to security and governance.
“All the businesses are being run by foreigners leaving the
citizens vulnerable. There are a lot of crises in the state, gang groups are
disrupting the people, government institutions are not functioning that is why
there are no services delivered, the state is being run online,” she asserted.
“Now we have the new governor, we need him to be with his
people looking at them every day, supervising his executives.”
Bol Deng Bol, Chairperson of the Civil Society Network in
Jonglei says Mahjoub Biel Turuk, the newly appointed governor, should prioritize
financial accountability in the state revenue authority to channel revenue into
service delivery.
Bol said the state has been running without a budget for the
last four years of Denay Jock Chargor in the leadership making it difficult for
accountability to take place.
“The governor has been in Juba making it difficult for the
cabinet to perform without supervision and budget, this caused a serious bad
working relationship within the executives and the assembly as well. Now we
need all those to be corrected by the new governor,” Bol stated.
The leader of the civil society adds his voice to call upon the
new governor to focus on improving security and create conducive environment to
put an end the armed violence and persistent abduction of women and children.
Jonglei state has recently witnessed a rise in violent
incidents. The communities in Jonglei and neighboring Pibor area raid and
retaliate back and forth, killing civilians, abducting women, and children, and
taking cattle.
The age-old tradition of cattle raiding has become
increasingly deadly due to hostile inter-ethnic relations and the prevalence of
small arms, compounded by extreme poverty, and a severe lack of social and
physical infrastructure.
Denay had also been facing criticism in the state capital,
Bor, for his leadership style and for spending much of his time in Juba.
Both the former governor Denay Jock Chargor and the newly appointed
governor Mahjoub Biel Turuk are from the South Sudan Opposition Alliance.