Jonglei State Governor Denay Jock Chagor on Monday evening sacked the mayor of Bor municipal council and reinstated the suspended lands and housing minister.

In an order seen by Radio Tamazuj, Governor Chagor removed the mayor of the Bor municipal council, Samuel Ateny Pech. “I, Denay Jock Chagor, Governor of Jonglei State, do hereby issue this Gubernatorial Order for the relieve of H.W Samuel Ateny Pech as Mayor of Bor Municipal Council in Jonglei State, with effect from 27 March 2023,” the order read in part.

The order gave no reason for the firing of the town mayor.

In another gubernatorial decree, Governor Chagor reinstated the suspended state minister of lands, housing and public utilities, Isaac Mamer Ruk, with immediate effect from 27 March.

“In reference to the letter of the Deputy Governor of Jonglei State dated 23 of  March suspending the Minister of Lands, Housing and Public Utilities, that order was not legal and did not follow the constitution,” the order read in part.

The governor’s orders follow a rising tension between the Bor municipality and a group of local businesswomen who accused the municipal council of allotting their land meant for a market to investors. 

The angry local businesswomen staged protests in Bor town last week, prompting Deputy Governor Jacob Akech Dengdit to suspend the state minister of lands and housing.

On Monday, the Jonglei State Civil Society Coalition, a local rights group, set a seven-day ultimatum to the state government to resolve the land dispute or face a court battle.