Juba, March 11 (IANS) South Sudan President Salva Kiir dismissed three ministers in the latest cabinet reshuffle on Monday amid an ongoing political crisis that threatens the unity government, which was formed under a 2018 peace deal that ended the country’s five-year civil war.
In a presidential decree broadcast on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, Kiir removed Ruben Madol Arol as minister of justice and constitutional affairs and replaced him with Wek Mamer Kuol, a former deputy cabinet minister.
Awut Deng Acuil was relieved of her duties as minister of general education and instruction, with educationist Kuyok Abol Kuyok set to assume the role. Joseph Mum Majak was dismissed as minister of trade and industry
Both Deng and Madol have held ministerial positions since 2020, while Majak was appointed trade minister in July 2024. The president did not provide reasons for their dismissals.
The latest cabinet reshuffle came in the wake of armed confrontations in Nasir, including an attack on a United Nations aircraft, which resulted in the deaths of UN personnel and dozens of soldiers on March 7.
The international community has called on warring parties in South Sudan to advance the transition toward stability, democracy and lasting peace, urging them to prevent the country from backsliding into chaos.
Fighting in Nasir, a strategic town, has escalated tensions since March 3, leading to the arrest of senior government and military officials from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), led by First Vice-President Riek Machar.
More than 20 people have reportedly been killed, and several others injured on the outskirts of Nasir, near the border between South Sudan and Ethiopia, Xinhua news agency reported.
Clashes erupted in mid-February between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and armed civilian groups in the country’s Nasir County. Tensions escalated after the government announced plans to deploy new forces to Nasir County to rotate troops that had been stationed in the area for several years.
–IANS
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