South Sudan: Kiir Sacks VP and Entire Cabinet
South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir has dissolved his entire cabinet in a presidential decree issued on Tuesday that also saw Vice-President Riek Machar sacked, in a new power struggle in Africa’s youngest state.
No clear reason has been given so far over the move to dismiss all ministers, which reveals of the long-standing row between Mr Kiir and Mr Machar, spanning months now.
Reports say Mr Kiir is struggling to maintain control of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), following a recent outburst within the party, of members discontented with his leadership.
The presidential decision broadcast by South Sudan national television reported of all the ministers and their deputies relieved of their duties, and directed the undersecretaries to run their respective ministries until further notice.
Kiir also ordered the investigation of SPLM’s Secretary General Pagan Amum, who he accused of inciting violence and criticising his actions. Speaker of the parliament and party’s deputy chairman James Wani Igga was appointed to head the committee that will be probing Amum.
The sacking has raised fears over dividing the country along ethnic lines, pitting two main communities, the Dinka and Nuer.
Mr Kiir is from the Dinka community, which is the largest in South Sudan, while Mr Machar is from the second-largest group, the Nuer, some of whom have complained about Dinka domination.
The struggle within SPLM is profound over succession after Mr Machar had hinted that he may be contesting for its leadership against Kiir, ahead of the 2015 presidential polls.
Earlier this month Kiir sacked his former ally and governor of Unity State Taban Deng, over claims of his support for Machar, a move that attracted public statements from both Machar and Amum in criticism of Kiir’s actions against Deng.
Last month Mr Kiir sacked two other senior ministers embroiled in a multi-million dollar financial scandal, a decision reportedly also criticised by Mr Amum.
Nhial Bol, editor in chief of the independent Citizen newspaper, told Reuters that Kiir wanted to end the paralysis of his government.
"Things have not been moving in the government because of this internal fighting over who is going to control the SPLM" he said.
South Sudan has suffered a chronic economic problem since its independence from Sudan in July 2011. Issues revolving around border territory and sharing of oil resources have been centre of the north-south dispute two years since the split.
Fighting along the disputed border and an oil transit row nearly brought the two countries to brink of war last year, prompting calls by the African Union (AU) to negotiations that saw an eventual deal in September.
In March, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for cooperation agreements that covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, and border trade among others.
But last June, the Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the closure of all pipelines carrying oil from South Sudan. He said that the move was in response to South Sudan’s funding of rebels fighting his government.
Oil flow from South Sudan to ports on Sudan’s red sea coast resumed only in March after more than one year of closure over transit row. The South took most of the oilfields after secession, but requires North’s pipeline to transport its crude to ports in the north for export.