Activists Ter Manyang (left) and Edmund Yakani. (Photo: Chany Ninrew/Courtesy).

Civil society activists have denounced the removal of Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Sarah Cleto and her replacement with a male politician, arguing that such leadership changes violate affirmative action on gender representation.

On Friday, President Kiir relieved Cleto and named Emmanuel Okello in her place before transferring her to the Council of States in a decree upon recommendation of the SPLM-IO.

But Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) and Ter Manyang of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), said Cleto’s removal has weakened gender equality in political leadership.

Mr. Yakani said the reshuffle undermines the revitalized agreement, which mandates a minimum 35% representation of women across all levels of government.

He added that the replacement of females by male counterparts does not only reduce the presence of women in leadership but also sets a concerning precedence that threatens ongoing efforts to maintain gender balance.

“We have been closely observing for a few years the reshuffles at various levels of the government. At the national level, we have lost women’s seats to men, and now at the state level, we are also losing seats of the state governor to a man,” he said in a statement to Eye Radio.

“Those reshuffles are leading us to violation of the affirmative action of a minimum 35% representation of women at various level of the government.”

The activist said civil society groups will be forced to drag the transitional government to court to answer for “this continuous violation” of the affirmative action of 35% minimum representation.

“One day, this will make us take you to a court of law to question your commitment and your responsibility in enforcing the affirmative action. We are tired watching violation of 35% and we only keep urging. Next time we will question you in a court of law.”

On his part, Ter Manyang said this is not the first time women have been removed from their positions and replaced by men, and called on the peace parties to immediately address the trend.

He voiced concerns about the dwindling women representation in the government due to reshuffles by the peace parties including the SPLM and SPLM-IO, adding that it continues to undermine the participation of women in the R-TGoNU.

Following the appointment of national ministers, governors and lawmakers during the formation of the unity government in 2020, women noted with concern that the appointments fell short of the 35 percent commitment on women’s participation.