South Sudan’s Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny has criticized recent decrees issued by the SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar appointing top SPLA-IO commanders and ‘governors’.

In a statement to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Ateny Wek said that such appointments contravene the country’s laws and constitution, noting that these ‘governors’ have no legitimacy.

Machar initially made appointments for governors 7 of 21 states that he claimed he had created as a decision of the SPLM-IO movement.

His spokesman James Gatdet Dak recently explained that the appointments of state governors even for government-controlled areas is important for “mobilizing the people in support of our cause.”

Ateny Wek described the appointment of the SPLA-IO chief of staff and his deputies as made on a tribal basis. He was referring to the Nuer tribe as dominating the opposition faction.

“When you look at the new reshuffle of the rebels, for instance General Dau Aturjong has been appointed as commander in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, while the chief of staff and his deputies are Nuer,” he said.

“Martin Kenyi and another person from Equatoria were appointed as deputies to the chief of staff although they were not more senior than General Dau Aturjung in the SPLA forces,” he added.

Ateny further said the rebels’ decisions indicate that they are not for peace and stability in South Sudan.

But the spokesman reiterated his government’s commitment to a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict.

The presidential press secretary also disclosed that there are no arrangements in place for a meeting soon between President Kiir and his former vice president turned rebel leader Riek Machar.

File photo: Ateny Wek