By Tereza Jeremiah Chuei
The Minister of Presidential Affairs Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin stated that the Council of States should have been guided by constitutional provision in making a decision to avoid ‘acting ultra vires’.
This came in response to the letter written by the Council of States directed to the President, regarding their ‘withdrawal of confidence’ from the governor of Unity State, while the resolution was further calling on the President to exercise his constitutional mandate to relieve the Governor.
However, the response from the President’s Office in a statement seen by No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper posted on the Presidential Official Facebook Page objected the Council of States’ resolution to impeach governor Manytuil.
The Office of the President said it was unconstitutional for the Council of States to recommend the removal of the governor by withdrawing their confidence in him.
“The Council of States ought to have (been) guided by constitutional provisions in making such a decision to avoid acting ultra vires (acting beyond one’s legal authority) as it has been in this case,” the statement from the Office of the President partly read.
The statement went further stressing that the issue of withdrawal of confidence on the ground of failure by the governor to provide security in Unity State including its environment should have been directed to the levels of government responsible of defense and security.
“The Council of States should have directed its mind to schedule A; items 2 and 32 of the constitution, where Defense and National security matters are the exclusive executive powers of the national Government but not the State Government rather, the two levels of government may have to coordinate on issue of Defense and security,” the statement added.
The statement further emphasized that the Council of States should have invoked the provision of article 59(e) of the constitution by requesting statement from either the governor or the National Ministers of Defense and security chief.
“To show the cause why there is rampant insecurity in Unity State and its environment that legal steps have been taken to apprehend the suspects in order for justice to prevail and what measures have been put in place to prevent occurrence of such incidences in the future accordingly,” the statement furthered.
However, “in view of the ongoing, H.E. the President of the Republic recognizes the efforts exerted by the Council of States and he is committed to ensure that the security situation in Unity State is normalized and justice prevails as he awaits for a comprehensive report and recommendation from the ongoing investigation by the security organs of the County,” the statement further noted.
There has been a lot of controversies surrounding the fate of the governor of Unity State following the recent twist of insecurity happenings in Mayom County fueled with some rumors.
The Office of Unity State Governor’s Press Unit, condemned what they termed as this propagation in the strongest terms possible, and urged the people of South Sudan to disregard the baseless and cheap propaganda designed by the enemy of peace and progress.
The Office in its official Facebook page yesterday countered some rumors and fake news making rounds on social media purporting that Governor Dr. Joseph Manytuil has resigned following mounting pressure from the Council of States to impeach him.
Governor Manytuil’s office clarified to the public in a Facebook post that there is ongoing conspiracy policy to remove the governor while accusing the opposition parties’ members in the Council of States for spearheading the drive against Dr. Manytuil.
They said the opposition members on Wednesday, concocted fake document that the Governor of Unity State resigned from the position of governorship.
“So, we called upon the public and the people of Unity State in particular to remain vigilant and advisable to always get the right information on the official page of the Unity State Governor’s Press Unit and other reliable media outlets,” the statement stated.