The Jonglei State Caretaker Governor John Kong Nyuon has been appointed the Jonglei State Deputy Chairperson for the SPLM-Juba Party.

State Party Chairperson Kuol Manyang Juuk appointed Kong as his deputy to fill the vacancy made by the defection of former state party deputy chairperson Hussein Maar Nyuot to the SPLM-In Opposition of Riek Machar.

Juuk was elected Jonglei State governor in 2008 with Hussein Maar as his deputy governor. The two men were also chair and deputy chair, respectively, of the Jonglei State SPLM Party.

Juuk retained his state party position after he was appointed National Minister of Defense earlier this year, while Maar lost both his positions after joining the SPLM-IO along with other state officials including former Jonglei State Minister of Law Gabriel Duop Lam.

Kong was then appointed Caretaker Governor to fill the new Defense Minister's former post.

At a leadership meeting in Bor this week, Juuk said Kong was a "true patriot" because he did not defect.

“He has always remained who he is," Juuk said of Kong. "We have seen that in 1991 and when Riek Machar decided to rebel again last December in Juba. A lot of people were killed and many people followed [Machar] again but comrade John Kong and many others did not up to this point."

File photo: Governor John Kong Nyuon