Stephen Par, Minister of Peace Building, and one of the four suspended officials, has been charged with mobilizing support for the replacement of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar

By Ajah Jennifer

The Minister of Peace Building, Stephen Par Kuol, has rejected his suspension from the SPLM-IO by the acting chairperson Oyet Nathaniel, calling it the joke of the year.

Par referred to his suspension as unilateral and a violation of the party’s regulations.

On Monday, the acting SPLM/A-IO Chairperson, Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, issued a statement suspending four senior members of the party, including Stephen Par Kuol, Agok Makur, Ding Lam, and Luke Thompson.

He accused them of supporting the SPLM-IG to create disunity.

Stephen Par, Minister of Peace Building, one of the suspended officials, has been charged with mobilizing support for the replacement of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, who is currently under house arrest.

Meanwhile, Agok Makur and others were supporting the SPLM-IG political and security as part of the orchestrated plan.

Par hit out at Oyet and accused him of rebelling against the government.

In a recorded voice circulating on social media, Par said, “We call this a joke of the year! Nathaniel [Oyet] does not have constitutional powers to do that; he is doing it because he fled, and he does not control anything now.”

“The problem is that he is hearing that we are organizing a National Liberation Council (NLC) meeting,” he explained as quoted by Radio Tamazuj

 “NLC is the second largest organ of the party between sessions of the convention and the extraordinary convention. We are doing this because we are going to delink ourselves from them; they are rebels, and we are with the government,” Par stated.

Par further stated that Oyet wanted to dismantle the progress of the National Liberation Council of the party.  

We are not rebels; we are actually advocating the groups inside here and our position is very clear.”

Par stated that Oyet is not the chairman and at no point does he have the authority to dismiss anyone without a disciplinary process.

“We don’t work like this. Our internal rules, regulations, and code of conduct are very clear. There is no misconduct and even if there is misconduct, what you need to do first is investigation,” Par continued.

He insisted that they had not issued any document or made any declaration that would prompt their suspension.

“If you get hold of him, ask him how many members of the political bureau are with him in the bushes of South Sudan,” Par said.

He said Oyet’s actions were a violation of the party’s code of conduct.

Par hinted that they would continue to advocate for the release of their chairman and other members that have been detained.

“We call for the release of our chairman. We call for a ceasefire to get the peace process on track.”

“We call this a joke of the year! Nathaniel [Oyet] does not have constitutional powers to do that; he is doing it because he fled, and he does not control anything now,” Minister of Peace Building, Stephen Par Kuol, said.