South Sudan President Kiir fires foreign minister amid US row and political tensions
The diplomatic wrangle with US comes at a time when the government is also facing internal political strain over the continuing house arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has fired the country's Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Ramadan Abdallah Goc, in a surprise move that comes amid growing diplomatic tensions with the United States and rising domestic instability.
The presidential decree, read on national broadcaster South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Wednesday, did not give reasons for the dismissal.
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Goc, who served less than a year, has been replaced by Semaya Kumba, a career diplomat and the outgoing Deputy Foreign Minister.
Kumba previously served as South Sudan's ambassador to China, bringing with him experience in navigating complex diplomatic terrain.
His appointment comes as South Sudan grapples with a deepening diplomatic spat with Washington, following a controversial deportation saga involving Congolese national Makula Kintu.
The United States had accused Juba of refusing to accept the deportee, allegedly mistaken as a South Sudanese citizen.
The situation escalated after the US imposed a blanket visa ban on all South Sudanese nationals.
In an apparent bid to defuse tensions with the US, South Sudan eventually accepted Kintu, despite earlier claims that he used travel documents belonging to a South Sudanese citizen named Nimeri Garang.
The reversal was confirmed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Apuk Ayuel Mayen.
The diplomatic wrangle comes at a time when the government is also facing internal political strain over the continuing house arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar.
His detention has raised questions about the fate of the Revitalized Peace Agreement signed in 2018, which aimed to end South Sudan's brutal five-year civil war.
President Kiir was recently briefed on the security situation by Defence Minister Gen. Chol Thon Balok, who maintained that "South Sudan is relatively stable," particularly in Juba, Western Equatoria, Ruweng and parts of the Upper Nile region.
However, he acknowledged that recent attacks by White Army militants on an SSPDF military base in Upper Nile State have heightened tensions.
The change in leadership at the Foreign Ministry may signal an attempt to recalibrate Juba's diplomatic posture — both in terms of mending fences with global powers and projecting a semblance of stability at home as the 2024 deadline for implementing the peace agreement looms.
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