Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A senior member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) is calling for the immediate resignation of Prof. John Akec, the vice chancellor of the University of Juba, for allegedly disrespecting First Vice President Riek Machar and the people of Unity State.
The call comes two days after Akec sparked controversy when he attacked Unity State Governor Joseph Nguen Manytuil at South Sudan’s first economic conference held in Juba last week over the ongoing dredging of the Naam River.
First Vice President Machar was present when the two men verbally clashed, with Governor Manytuil accusing Akec of calling the people of Unity State “animals.”
It is not clear when Akec uttered such insults, but on April 15, 2023, Akec made a brief statement on his social media Facebook page in which he referred to pro-dredging voices as “Gatluaks.” “Gatluak” is a popular name only used by the Nuer.
“To all Gatluaks of this world,” he wrote at the time. “please know that Naam River is part of Sudd Wetland. If you mess up with Naam River, you mess up with all the Sudd Wetland. You mess up with lives of 5 million people who benefit from its ecosystem services.”
In a statement, SPLM-IO director of information and public relations Puok Both Baluang questioned if Akec would have caused such havoc had it been President Salva Kiir Mayardit who was chairing the conference and if the flooding was taking place in areas that do not belong to Nuer.
“If President Kiir had been the one presiding over the session, would John Akech have behaved the same way he did yesterday at the economic conference?” he questioned. “Would he have led the campaign against clearing the Naam River if ‘Gatluaks of the world’ had not been the nation impacted by the disastrous flooding, despite the national government’s approval?”
Baluang, who is also the acting spokesman of the First Vice President, called on Professor Akec to resign and apologize to Machar and the people of Unity State.
“As a concerned Unity State citizen, I think John Akec ought to apologize to the first Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, who presided over the economic conference’s day 5 session, the conferees, and the people of Unity State for his heedless deeds and remarks towards them, or he must resign as vice chancellor of Juba’s University,” he said.
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