Western Barh El Ghazal State - South Sudan

The SPLM-IO and Police in Western Bahr el Ghazal are trading blames over the launching of registration of the party members in Wau.

A lawmaker from SPLM-IO in Western Bahr el Ghazal has accused organized forces in the state of interfering with the launching of the party members’ registration, an accusation the police denied.

Juma Zachariah Deng told Eye Radio that, the heads of police and national security trying to intervene with the process of the registration launching in Wau town early this week.

He says the two heads of police and national security in the state came to the SPLM-IO State Secretariat, where they delayed the process for almost three hours without any reasonable explanation.

Deng says that the intention was to frustrate the whole process, with the aim of not wanting us to go on with the launching of the Party at the State level.

He added that, after they managed to go to Isaac Stadium, some plastic bottles filled with Petrol liquid were hauled at us.

Juma Zachariah Deng who is representing SPLM – IO in Jur River County in Western Bahr el Ghazal state has condemned this incident.

“It was Monday 22nd when the state director for national security and police, came to the office around 10 am and we were thinking that it’s just a normal procedure and maybe the governor call them,” said Zachariah

“We discovered that they were trying to delay the process because they take a long time meeting with the governor in our secretariat,

“According to the law, they don’t right to enter our office, because if there is any security meeting it should take place in the government office and not in the party office,

“We want to make sure that  SPLM-IO is for peace, and it’s the first time this thing took place in Bahr el Ghazal.”

For his part, the deputy police commissioner of Western Bahr el Ghazal State major general James Simon described the accusation of SPLM–IO as baseless.

“Honesty, what the Honorable Juma Zachariah mentioned about an obstacle that happened from police personnel in the launching of the SPLM IO in Western Bahr el Ghazal state is not true,”

“Police personnel does not have any activities that can put them there,

“The police commissioner was there together with the SSPDF commander and the state director of national security were all there, and nobody organized forces interfered with their activities,

“The delay may be from them [SPLM-IO] because they were disorganized.”

That was the deputy police commissioner in Western Bahr el Ghazal State major general James Simon speaking to Eye Radio.