In a sudden shakeup of his cabinet, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has fired Foreign and International Cooperation Minister Mayiik Ayii Deng, making him the third minister to be sacked in a month.
Kiir had previously dismissed Defence Minister Angelina Teny and Interior Minister Mahmoud Solomon. The presidential decree announcing the foreign minister’s dismissal was broadcasted on state-owned Television South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) without any explanation for the decision.
South Sudan’s President has not named a replacement, but he has directed Deputy Foreign Minister Deng Dau to act as minister until one is appointed.
Mayiik Ayii Deng had taken over as foreign minister in September 2021, succeeding Beatrice Khamisa Wani.
The SPLM-IO, an armed opposition faction led by First Vice President Riek Machar, had rejected the unilateral removal of the defense minister and called for reinstatement. Last year in August, the parties to the country’s revitalized peace agreement announced a 24-month extension of the transitional government.