JUBA – The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Peter Mayen Majongdit has been accused of disrupting an IGAD meeting that was convened to solve intra-party conflict within the People’s Liberal Party (PLP).

The Friday meeting, which was organized by the IGAD Special Envoy to South Sudan Ismail Wais in Juba, was aimed at the formal termination of Mayen’s status as one of the signatories to the Revitalized Peace Agreement by IGAD after he was dismissed by the People’s Liberal Party (PLP) under the umbrella of the Other Political Parties (OPP).

According to the Spokesperson of PLP Albino Akol Atak, Mayen stormed the meeting’s venue with more than 30 individuals whom he said were not party members.

Mr. Akol said when Mayen’s group was told to vacate the seats to allow only six OPP principal leaders and signatories to the revitalized agreement; they caused chaos and disrupted the meeting.

“Mr. Mayen stormed the meeting with more than 30 people, including women and men to cause chaos to stop the meeting not to go ahead,” he said.

“And, when Ismail Wais saw that the meeting could not go ahead, he suspended the meeting and the discussion over the matter. And he told the signatories to be ready for the meeting with RJMEC on Monday, August 30,” Akol told the City Review on phone on Sunday.

The City Review could not independently verify the accusation as several phone calls to Mr. Mayen were unsuccessful by the time of going to the press.

Ouster

In July, members of the PLP terminated Mayen’s membership from the party and ousted him as the chairperson of the PLP for gross public misconducts that were deemed detrimental to the party’s failure. His dismissal was endorsed by the OPP, an umbrella Mayen also chaired.

Mayen has been accused by his colleagues of violating the responsibility of power-sharing protocol enshrined in the revitalized peace agreement by nominating individuals outside the OPP membership to the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (RTNLA); most of whom are his closed relatives and a foreign companion.

In May and July 2021, President Salva Kiir issued decrees revoking the appointment of the individuals including Mayen himself as members of RTNLA and ordered the OPP to resubmit new names to be appointed to replace them.

The latest accusation that triggered his dismissal was Mayen’s alleged Gender-Based Violence, torturing and stabbing Ms. Aluel Garang, his wife better known as Aluel ‘Messi’.

That followed another attempted GBV against Ms. Aluel Messi at Aweil Football ground during the April female league.

The two incidents prompted advocates for civil rights dominated by women to stage a protest in which they called on President Salva Kiir to strip Mayen of his ministerial position.

But the protest seems to have yielded no impact as the former OPP Chairman defiantly occupies his seat amid endless controversy.