By Matik Kueth
South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) has dismissed claims by Josephine Lagu’s faction that they disowned Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi as their representative in the Presidency.
In a Thursday statement, SSOA refuted the allegations as baseless, emphasizing that they never nominated a single candidate for the Vice Presidency in 2020. The group also stated that Lagu’s claims to SSOA leadership violate their charter and reaffirmed that no one has the authority to remove Abdelbagi.
“H.E. the President was authorized by SSOA leadership at the time to appoint any of the candidates who presented themselves as nominees for the Position of Vice-Presidency. Thus, H.E. the President, in his own wisdom, appointed HE. Hussein Abdelbagi Akol as a Vice-President of the Republic and representative of SSOA in the Presidency,” the statement read in part.
It added, “The VP was delegated in a meeting of the SSOA leadership after his appointment (20 Feb 2020 in Hai Thora, Freedom Group Apartments) to be the channel of communication between the Presidency and SSOA constituent parties. Read together with regulation six sub-regulation two, which stipulates that: The Leadership Council shall elect from its members a Chairperson, Vice-Chair, Secretary General and Coordinator for the period of 6 months non-renewable.”
The statement also clarified that no recent leadership meetings have occurred to warrant any decision regarding the replacement of VP Abdelbagi.
SSOA leaders further urged all constituent parties to uphold the SSOA Charter’s guidelines, warning that harmful rhetoric could jeopardize the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), especially as misleading political narratives circulate on social media.