South Sudan’s armed opposition accused President Salva Kiir of being behind the attempt by Western Bahr el Ghazal governor Rizig Zachariah Hassan to move the nation’s capital from Juba to Wau.

“Western Bahr el Ghazal governor Rizig Zachariah Hassan was not the one who initiated the idea of relocating the capital from Juba to Wau. So it is the President Salva Kiir who came up with it, but behind the scenes” said Yohanis Musa Pouk, a member of the The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Oppostion advance team to Khartoum.

Pouk accused President Kiir of wanting to transfer the capital to Wau town to fortify his government among his supporters in the Bahr el Ghazal region.

He told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that transfering of the capital to Wau needs to be endorsed by the cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly and must be accepted in a popular referendum.

He added that discussion about South Sudan’s capital is over that Ramshel area was chosen unanimously.

Western Bahr el Ghazal Minister of Information and Communications Derik Al Fred denied Pouk’s claim that the President is trying to shift the capital.

Al Fred said the proposal of transferring the capital to Wau town was not new but dates to the time of former Western Bahr el Ghazal Governor Mark Nyipouc.

He added that Wau town would be a good place for a national capital because it is culturally diverse and geographically unique.  He said there is a plan to resurvey all residential areas in the state to avoid any land disputes with local communities in case the capital moves to Wau.

On 23 July, hundreds of students and members of civil society organizations demonstrated peacefully in Wau town in support of relocating the capital from Juba.

File photo: Governor Rizig Hassan Zacharia (Courtesy Photo/Radio Tamazuj)

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