The governor of Eastern Equatoria State, Gen. Louis Lobong last week issued an executive order indefinitely suspending Kapoeta South County Commissioner Angelo Lominit.
Commissioner Lominit was appointed on the ticket of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) as per the power-sharing matrix in the revitalized peace agreement of 2018.
The decree read on the state radio 97.5 FM was cited as the gubernatorial decree No. 1/2023 for the suspension of Angello Lominit Lotabamoi as the commissioner of Kapoeta South County in the government of Eastern Equatoria State with effect from 9 February 2023.
“In exercise of powers conferred upon me under Republican Decree No. 51/2020 as amended and considering article 99(2a) of the transitional constitution of Eastern Equatoria State, 2011, I Louis Lobong Lojore, Governor of Eastern Equatoria State, do hereby issue this executive order suspending Angello Lominit indefinitely from the position of the commissioner of Kapoeta South county with effect from 9 February 2023,” the order read.
The order did not give reasons for the suspension.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj over the weekend, Lominit rejected his suspension and said he and his party were not consulted regarding the matter.
“You the people of the radio should put it in your mind this issue (suspension) will not go ahead, this peace will not go ahead like this. The decree which was made on the road without any reason cannot help at all,” he fumed. “I am not prepared for this information (suspension) and if they want to issue a decree (order), it is done at 8 pm. This decree of Lobong is useless because he went as far as issuing a decree at 3 am without even reporting to my party.”
He added: “I am from SSOA of Isaac Moro and the information did not reach my party members and the governor is supposed to call me and tell me the things I have done wrong.”
Meanwhile, Mathew John Barnaba Oturo, a leading member of SSOA in Eastern Equatoria State and state parliamentarian, confirmed the suspension of the commissioner and said consultations ought to have been done before the suspension.
“The agreement indeed allows the governor to consult the members of the party if a particular official is not doing well, then the party members will bring a letter to confirm the replacement,” he explained. “This is what every governor is supposed to do but not removal or suspension. The party sits and chooses or nominates a replacement and presents the name to the governor who then forwards it to the president for appointment.”
Lominit is the second opposition commissioner to be suspended indefinitely without clear reasons.
In 2021, Governor Lobong indefinitely suspended then Torit County Commissioner Andrew Philipson who was nominated on the Other Political Parties (OPP) ticket, and replaced him with the current commissioner, Jacob Attari Albano, who is from the SPLM party.