Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KHARTOUM1620
2006-07-10 09:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Khartoum
Cable title:  

SUSPENSION OF THE GOVERNOR OF WEST EQUATORIA

Tags:  PGOV PINS PHUM SU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3745
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1620 1910932
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 100932Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3618
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0039
C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001620 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM SU
SUBJECT: SUSPENSION OF THE GOVERNOR OF WEST EQUATORIA

Classified By: CGJ R. Whitehead, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001620

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM SU
SUBJECT: SUSPENSION OF THE GOVERNOR OF WEST EQUATORIA

Classified By: CGJ R. Whitehead, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: A mid-June GoSS presidential decree
suspended West Equatoria Governor Zamoi, who is blamed for
Zande attacks in February on Dinka herders, which resulted in
the deaths of 70 individuals. Zamoi is also linked to the
embezzlement of stabilization funds. Ethnic balance remains
a decisive factor in GoSS portfolios, rendering personnel
decisions a careful calculation. End summary.

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W. Equatoria Governor Suspended for Inciting Attacks
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2. (C) Governor of West Equatoria State Col. Patrick Zamoi
was suspended by presidential decree in mid-June, and Zamoi
remains under house arrest in Juba. Southern Sudanese
Legislative Assembly Chairperson of the Business Committee
Peter Bashir Bendi (protect),who comes from West Equatoria,
explained the story behind the story. He said that Zamoi, a
Zande, inflamed an already tense situation following his
February arrival in Yambio by urging the Zande population to
attack Dinka herders who had not returned to their homelands
following signature of the CPA. The Zande harbor deep
antipathy toward the Dinka, who are viewed as interlopers and
remembered for their depredations against the local
population when SPLA battalions from Dinka areas retreated
into West Equatoria during the conflict.

-------------- --------------
The Plot Thickens: Gov. Hides Evidence, Misuses Funds
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Bendi said that more than seventy persons died during
the February clashes between the two groups, the majority of
whom were Dinka. When an investigation began, Zamoi
attempted to cover up his part in the affair by disinterring
bodies and incinerating them. In addition, Bendi went on,
Zamoi misused the stabilization funds allotted to him to set
up basic government structures to finance an extravagant
lifestyle for himself and several select state ministers.
Zamoi has not yet been charged, but Bendi expected him to be
indicted formally and tried for his misdeeds.

-------------- --------------
Equilibrium in Equatoria: A Question of Ethnic Balance
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Bendi explained that the delay in suspending Zamoi was
due to delicate questions of ethnicity. To maintain social
equilibrium, the GoSS has been forced to strike a balance
between ethnic groups, ensuring that each has nominal primacy
in its home area. The transition of Bari Major General
Clement Wani Konga from National Congress Party Governor of
Central Equatoria State to SPLM Governor of the same state is
but one example of balancing, and Zamoi,s nomination
another. Bendi said that Salva Kiir is keenly aware of
Equatorian fear of Dinka hegemony and thus has acted
judiciously to avoid offending the peoples of the
southernmost region of Southern Sudan. Nonetheless, there is
an ongoing whispering campaign that Zamoi is the victim of a
Dinka purge.


5. (C) Bendi said that he believed that Zamoi was guilty of
the alleged misdeeds, and saw the hand of the NCP involved.
Zamoi is close to NCP Minister of Labor and Human Resources
General Alison Magaya, also a Zande, who has sought to
maintain political space for the NCP in West Equatoria, since
Magaya is not welcome in the SPLM because of his long ties to
Khartoum. Bendi believed that Magaya had instigated Zamoi to
lash out at the Dinka.

-------------- --------------
Neutral Party as Likely Replacement, Distancing a Motive
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Zamoi,s replacement has not been named, but other
sources claim that Bendi is high on the short list for the
job. From the small Baka tribe, a neighbor of the Zande, he
would be seen as a more neutral party acceptable to both
sides. In addition, Bendi,s anti-corruption muckraking in
the Southern Legislative Assembly has reportedly discomfited
several SPLM notables, who would be happier were Bendi safely
out of sight in Yambio.
HUME