South Sudan’s parliament has appointed George Mabior Mayom as the acting chief whip of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), replacing Farouk Gatkuoth Kam.
The appointment was announced on Thursday during a meeting of the parliamentary business committee, chaired by newly appointed First Deputy Speaker Ambrose Lomin Pitia. The committee met to set the agenda for upcoming parliamentary discussions.
Mayom is aligned with the SPLM-IO faction led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol, which has pledged to work with the government and the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to implement the 2018 peace agreement.
The SPLM-IO split in April, when a faction led by Par Kuol declared its own leadership and announced plans to cooperate with the government to advance the peace deal.
Earlier this month, Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba appointed Pitia as first deputy speaker, replacing Nathaniel Oyet Perino, the deputy chairman of the SPLM-IO faction loyal to suspended First Vice President Riek Machar.
Oyet was removed from the position in August by presidential decree. The same decree also revoked the appointments of Deng Deng Akon, speaker of the Council of States, and Farouk Gatkuoth Kam as SPLM-IO chief whip.
Oyet, who is currently in self-imposed exile, has continued to lead the SPLM-IO faction loyal to Machar.
Machar was placed under house arrest in March and was formally suspended last week by President Salva Kiir, who accused him of treason and crimes against humanity over a militia attack on a military base in Nasir County.
Several senior SPLM-IO officials were arrested in connection with the incident, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chuol and General Gabriel Duop Lam, the army’s deputy chief of general staff.