South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit. |File Photo|.
South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, sacked Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro from his position as the minister of presidential affairs, eight months after his appointment.
In a republican decree read on the state-owned television Monday (19 August), President Kiir did not reveal the reason for firing Mr. Bakosoro from his position.
A few months ago, during the inauguration of the state-owned oil firm—dubbed Nile Petroleum and Gas Corporation’s headquarters in Juba—Mr. Bakosoro predicted his fate and cited that he would be removed from his position due to his truthfulness.
He criticized the country’s leadership for frequently firing officials which he said contributed to corruption and embezzlement of the public funds.
“The only thing that will remove me from where I am is straightforwardness because you […] don’t like somebody who is very straightforward. You […] need me to praise you, to play with you,” Bakosoro hinted.
“Are you going to change leader after leader without yielding any fruits,” he stressed.
It is not yet clear if Bakosoro also lost his position as the chairperson of the board of the Nile Petroleum and Gas Corporation. The state-owned oil and gas corporation is managed by the office of the president.
In a separate decree, President Kiir named Chol Mawut the new minister in the office of the president. Mawut serves as South Sudan’s ambassador to Kenya and a lawyer by profession.
After the 2013 conflict and subsequent fallout with President Kiir’s government, Bakosoro who was then displaced to Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, where he formed his party branded “The National Movement for Change” shortened as NMC projected to effect regime change in the world’s youngest nation.
Following the signing of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, Bakosoro returned home and was appointed minister of public service before he was persuaded to dissolve his NMC party to rejoin the ruling party, SPLM.
Mr. Bakosoro was appointed minister of presidential affairs in November last year and served for 8 months before he was removed on Monday, 19 August 2024.
