In a significant administrative shakeup, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has terminated two senior presidential staff members following a highly publicized incident involving the posthumous appointment of a deceased opposition figure to an electoral oversight panel.
The controversy emerged when a presidential decree dated December 30th named Steward Soroba Budia, a member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), to a committee tasked with overseeing election preparations. However, local media outlets quickly revealed that Budia had passed away five years prior, triggering widespread ridicule on social media platforms.
Without specifying reasons for the dismissals, an official statement announced the removal of Presidential Press Secretary David Amour Major and Chief Administrator of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs Valentino Dhel Maluet. The communiqué, posted on the president’s official Facebook account and signed by Minister of Presidential Affairs Africano Mande Gedima, expressed the president’s ‘profound gratitude’ for their service while indicating they had been ‘relieved of their duties.’
Prior to his dismissal, Amour had issued a statement explaining that the presidential office had relied on the ‘accuracy and currency’ of names submitted by unspecified ‘stakeholders’ for panel inclusion. ‘It is now evident that a thorough verification was not done by one of the stakeholders which resulted in this unfortunate administrative oversight,’ Amour stated, though he declined to identify the responsible party. The UDP has remained silent on the matter.
The deceased appointee, Budia, had been a signatory to the 2018 peace agreement that aimed to stabilize South Sudan following years of conflict after gaining independence in 2011. President Kiir established the electoral panel with representatives from various political factions to facilitate December elections, though significant doubts persist regarding the feasibility of holding votes amid ongoing violence.
The United Nations reports that recent fighting has displaced over 180,000 civilians, with Jonglei state experiencing particularly severe clashes between government forces and militants aligned with suspended Vice-President Riek Machar. Currently under house arrest facing charges of murder, treason, and crimes against humanity—all of which he denies—Machar remains a central figure in the country’s political landscape. Both Kiir and Machar were supposed to collaborate within a unity government established through the 2018 settlement, which ended a five-year civil war stemming from their power struggle.