The political drama in Western Equatoria has flared again after SPLM-IO Deputy Governor Justin Joseph Marona swung his axe on four senior officials accused of defecting to the ruling SPLM-IG.
In Order No. 01/2025, issued this week, Marona announced the dismissal of:
Rubben Amaai, Commissioner of Mvolo County, Lino Fataki, Commissioner of Nzara County, John Mirihewari, Mayor of Yambio Municipality, and John Nambazia, Member of the State Legislative Assembly.
The four, once trusted lieutenants of the SPLM-IO faction under National Minister of Peace Building Stephen Par Kuol, are accused of switching allegiance to President Kiir’s SPLM-IG.
According to the deputy governor’s order, the officials “ceased to be part of the SPLM-IO interim leadership” the moment they crossed the political line.
Their official removal and replacement, Marona said, will follow the power-sharing provisions of the peace agreement.
“You cannot serve two masters,” one insider close to the SPLM-IO leadership remarked. “If you join the other side, you must also surrender the seat that side does not own.”
The posts Mvolo and Nzara County commissioners, Yambio mayor, and state MP—were all positions allotted to the SPLM-IO under the 2018 peace deal.
The defections left a political vacuum that Marona’s camp moved swiftly to fill.
Many sees the dismissals are part of an internal cleanup intended to reaffirm SPLM-IO’s grip in Western Equatoria.
