South Sudan Mining Minister resigns

By Manyuon Mayen Manyuon

The South Sudanese Minister of Mining, Henry Dilah Odwar, has resigned his position.

Odwar, who is also the deputy chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition led by First Vice President Riek Machar announced his resignation in a statement issued on Wednesday.

“With effect from today, 24.00hrs, Wednesday 11^th of august 2021, I, Henry Dilah Odwar resign from being the Minister of Mining,” he said without explanations.

According to Puok Baulang, the Director of Information and Public Relations of the SPLM-IO, the deputy chairman “resigned officially from his position as a Minister of Mining only but not as a Deputy Chair and Commander in-Chief of the SPLM/A-IO.”

“He resigned due to health issues,” Baulang told Juba Echo by phone.

“He has been under health attention in Canada for a while. He has been out of the country for almost a year now, so due to this reason, he decided not to proceed until his treatment,” he said.

The SPLM-IO is the main opposition group participating in a peace agreement in Juba aimed at ending Africa’s deadliest crisis of the decade.

The crisis left 400,000 people dead, displaced four million others and slashed crude oil production leading to economic chaos.

While peace reigned since its initiation early last year, infighting within the SPLM-IO last week has reawakened fears that the deal remains fragile.