In a major shake-up of the five public universities, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit, in his role as the chancellor of five public universities, fired the outspoken Chancellor of the University of Juba, Professor John Akec Apurot, and named his replacement in a separate republican decree announced on the state-owned television ‘South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation.’
The dismissal of Prof. John Akec attracted mixed reactions in both the mainstream and social media. John Akec rose to fame ten years ago after being appointed by President Kiir as vice-chancellor of the country’s leading public university.
Akech’s top assignment was to dismantle the political corner harboring the youth caucuses that were opposed to the ruling party, SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement] which he managed to dismantle and created a ‘zero politic’ university environment at the heart of the country’s political compartment.
“Professor Akec was appointed when I was still a part-time lecturer. At the University of Juba, there were so many political groups disrupting the learning activities. Some politicians who were opposed to the ruling party were using the students to criticize the government, particularly the chancellor [who is the president of the republic]. Professor Aggrey Abate was the vice-chancellor then,” the 50-year-old lecturer exclusively narrated to Golden Times.
“Abate was modest and politically tolerant,” he asserted. “He knew the importance of opening up the political space for students to learn politics so that when they grow up into leadership, they wouldn’t resort to intolerance when discussing tough issues of national interest,” he added.
Akech’s reaction to his sacking
Upon hearing the bad news of his sacking, Prof. Akec rushed to his Facebook page to calm down his supporters and accept the changes; writing in capital letters “GOOD THINGS HAVE ENDINGS!”
“It was a great honor for me to serve as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba, our premier national university, for ten years,” he conceded.
“Like anything else, good things have endings,” Akec emphasized. “I would like to thank the Chancellor [President Kiir] for his trust and support over the last decade. I am also deeply grateful to everyone who supported and cheered me up morally and materially which allowed me to come this far. I would also like to congratulate the new Vice-Chancellor and his able team and wish them every success. Life is too short to spend in one position. It is the right time to move on and allow other colleagues with fresh ideas to take our university to the next level,” he assured.
In the first decree announced Friday evening, President Kiir dismissed Prof. John Akec as Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba and replaced him with Professor Robert Mayom Deng Kuirot.
Minister Bakosoro’s Blunt Advice
As usual, President Kiit fired the vice-chancellors just like other constitution postholders without disclosing the reasons. The man empowered by Article 101 of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 as amended, is sovereign in his decisions.
Contrarywise, His close Minister, Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, [Minister of Presidential Affairs] speaking on record during the commissioning of an office complex for the state-owned oil firm, NilePet, criticized the rapid removal of the officials without accountability.
At least Professor John Akec, served under the leadership of President Kiir for ten years—breaking the record as one of the longest-serving senior government officials in the country.
Bakoroso said, “Changes are sometimes good or bad.”. “But changes must be accepted. If you fall victim, accept it,” he advised the current government officials.
“If you change me today and also another one comes, after one month he or she knows she is going within one month, what would happen? I would collect everything because I am going within one month. So, in a way, there is no job security. Where there is no job security, there is no progress. So, we progress when we give you a chance to exercise all your ability to do what you know is good. But before you exercise what you know, you are already gone. I don’t believe in that and I will not stand with that,” Bakosoro warned.
In another decree, Kiir named Professor Mamur Chuol Turuk as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Upper Nile, replacing Professor Marial Awou Yol who passed away while undergoing treatment in India in September last year.
Kiir also dismissed Professor Victor Loku as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Bahr el Ghazal and replaced him with Professor Ernesto Bernado Jada.
The president then named Professor Rose Ajak as the new Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University of Bahr-el-Ghazal.
Professor Rose replaces Professor Kuek Maluil Jok, who transitioned to the role of Deputy Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance at the university.
Furthermore, Kiir appointed Professor Joshua Otor Akol as the new Vice Chancellor of Rumbek University of Science and Technology, replacing Professor Deng Manasseh. Kiir then appointed Professor Pauline Riak as the new Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
At Dr. John Garang Memorial University, Kiir named Professor Abraham Matoch Dhal as the new Vice-Chancellor. Kiir also named Professor Hawa Morgan, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, as the new Deputy Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance.
Professor Hawa will also maintain her previous responsibilities at the University of Bhar-el-Ghazal. Kiir then appointed Professor Pauline Riak as the new Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
The Brave Rioter
In a country where peaceful protests are met with live bullets, in April last year John Akec convinced his lecturers to demand salary increments and gave the government a two-week ultimatum to increase his men’s salaries, and his; failure to do so, he threatened to lay down his pen and join the league of jobless people in the national capital, Juba.
Akec wrote on his Twitter, “If the ministry of finance fails to pay me and staff a newly improved salary by 26 April 2023, I am going to give up my job and join ranks of unemployed youth selling currency on our streets.”
The act was seen as a defiance but later the government compromised and Akec ended the protest and resumed his work.
Public mixed reactions
Despite developing the lecture halls and other facilities at the University of Juba campuses, some critics challenged the quality of the students John Akec graduated every year. Some social media users and commentaries on mainstream media praised Akec for enhancing the face of the University of Juba and for passing out students at least every year compared to his predecessors, the likes of Aggrey Abate and others.
However, some comments on other mainstream websites criticized John Akec for prioritizing his interest above that of the students. They said since 2017 to 2023 students have been lamenting the increase of tuition fees but Akec paid a deaf ear to their predicaments.
In 2020, Professor John Akec dismissed 14 students accused of masterminding the protest over the increased tuition fees, triggering condemnation from the renowned Activist, Edmund Yakani, describing the dismissal of the students as ‘unprocedural.’
GT Report
