The finance minister of South Sudan was fired by President Salva Kiir without providing an explanation, despite the fact that the decision coincided with rising inflation and a significant decline in the value of the local currency relative to the US dollar.
Awow Daniel Chuang, the national minister, was fired, according to a statement that was read aloud on official television on Wednesday night. The nation’s troops and public officials have also been without pay and benefits for several months as the economic crisis has worsened.
People have long complained about the spiraling costs of necessities like food as a result of the worsening economic climate.
Kiir’s supporter Awou was named finance minister in March of this year, and since then, she has taken on a number of responsibilities, such as advocating for loans and attempting to pay the public employees.
Dr. Marial Dongrin Ater was named by Kiir to succeed Eng. Awow Daniel.
Additionally, Bernard Amuor Makeny was fired by President Kiir from his capacity as Managing Director of the state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet), and Eng. Mohammed Lino Benjamin took his place.
Prior to being removed, Benjamin was the Ministry of Petroleum’s technical advisor.
President Kiir dismissed Dr. Ader Machar Achiek, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, and Dr. William Anyak Deng, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum, in another proclamation.
He then named Dr. Chol Deng Thon Abel, a former managing director of Nilepet, as the new Undersecretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Dr. Harriet Pasquala as the new Undersecretary in the Ministry of Health.
South Sudanese observer Edmund Yakani responded to the sudden changes in the ministry of finance by telling Radio Tamazuj that the changes show that the ministry of finance and the state-owned oil company Nilepet are the money makers for the powerful, who work nonstop to get appointments that will give them resources and power.
Our country’s economy and the stability of financial planning are at stake from this. Our economy is unstable as a result of the regular turnover in the Nilepet managing director role and the Ministry of Finance. According to Yakani, stabilization in the finance and economic sectors necessitates a prolonged period of constructive adjustment.
He implored the president to suggest precise, fair terms of office for the managing director of Nilepet and the minister of finance.
“The frequent turnover of the managing director of Nilepet and the minister of finance will foster corruption and not alleviate our economic crisis,” he declared in closing.
