Kiir sacks finance minister, Nilepet chief, and undersecretaries

JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit dismissed Finance Minister Awou Daniel Chuang and Nilepet Managing Director Bernard Amuor Makeny in a series of presidential decrees on Wednesday night.

Chuang, appointed on March 1, 2024, replaced Bak Barnaba Chol, who served since August 2023. Amuor took over as Nilepet chief on January 13, 2023, succeeding Chol Deng Abel.

South Sudan’s economy has struggled since the war outbreak in December 2013, with the local currency, the South Sudan Pound (SSP), falling to a record low of SSP 3400 per U.S. dollar by Wednesday evening.

Kiir named Marial Dongrin Ater as the new finance minister. Ater holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Nairobi and was the deputy commissioner-general of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) for research and planning.

He also chaired the board of directors of Horizon Bank South Sudan.

Mohamed Lino Benjamin, an engineer and former technical advisor for the Ministry of Petroleum, was appointed as the new managing director of Nilepet. Lino previously served as the first undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining.

In separate decrees, Kiir dismissed the undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum, William Anyak, appointing former Nilepet Managing Director Chol Deng Thon as the new undersecretary.

Kiir also removed Ader Machar Achiek, undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, and appointed Harriet Pasquale as his replacement.

Pasquale was the director for HIV/AIDS and STIs and the National Malaria Control Program at the Ministry of Health, and a member of the Health Information System Program (HISP).

The president did not provide reasons for these changes, which were announced on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).