Denay Jock Chagor Explained

Office:	Governor of Jonglei State
Party:	SSOA
Termstart:	15 July 2020
Office2:	Minister of Higher Education
Termstart2:	12 March 2019
Termend2:	15 July 2020
Succeeded2:	Gabriel Changson Chang
Residence:	Deng-jok Payam, Akobo County
Birth Date:	Democratic Republic of Sudan

Denay Jock Chagor is a South Sudanese politician and the governor of Jonglei State since July 2020.

Chagor is a Lou Nuer Akobo county. In 2015, Chagor became the deputy chairman and chief of general staff for the South Sudan United Movement (SSUM), a rebel group part of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) coalition. Chagor also became South Sudan's Minister of Higher Education on March 12, 2019. After the death of Peter Gadet Yak, the founder of the SSUM, Chagor was appointed on May 14, 2019, as the temporary head of the movement.^[1] The SSOA was divided into two factions after a leadership dispute in late 2018, but in July 2019 Gabriel Changson Chang's Federal Democratic Party merged with the SSUM's faction and named Chagor as chairman.^[2] However, Chagor's leadership was rejected by six of the alliance's groups.^[3] On August 31, 2019, Chagor suspended three SSUM officials for disobedience; however, his term as interim chairman had expired on August 16, 2019, leading to divisions in the group's leadership.^[4] Chagor became South Sudan's Minister of Higher Education in 2019.^[5]

As part of the R-ARCSS, the SSOA was allowed to nominate one governor, the governor of Jonglei State. However, the alliance could not agree on a candidate, as the SSUM's faction nominated Chagor, while the NDM's faction nominated Mahjoub Biel.^[6] Lam Akol claimed that Chagor was ineligible to be a governor, as the minimum age for a governor is 40 and Chagor's passport said he was born in 1986, but Chagor insisted that he was born in 1975.^[7] Finally, on July 15, 2020, president Salva Kiir picked Chagor as governor, removing him from the Minister of Higher Education position.^{[8] [9]} Jonglei State did not have a governor from February 22 to July 15 due to the dispute in the SSOA.

References

1. News: SSUM appoints interim leader. en. Radio Tamazuj. 2020-07-15.
2. Web site: South Sudan opposition alliance reunites under one leader. 2020-07-15. Radio Tamazuj. en.
3. Web site: Leadership row looms as opposition alliance officials reject new leader. 2020-07-15. Radio Tamazuj. en.
4. Web site: Disagreement looms in SSUM over suspension of officials. 2020-07-15. Radio Tamazuj. en.
5. Web site: Ethiopia agrees to retain South Sudanese students. 2020-07-15. Radio Tamazuj. en.
6. Web site: SSOA leaders still at odds over candidate for Jonglei governor. 2020-07-15. Radio Tamazuj. en.
7. Web site: SAS. 2020-08-29. www.maapss.org.
8. Web site: Gabriel Changson appointed South Sudan's higher education minister - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan. 2020-07-15. www.sudantribune.com.
9. Web site: Kiir appoints governor for troubled Jonglei. 2020-07-15. Radio Tamazuj. en.

(Thijin khan Reath university student)