![Francis Marial Abur (left) and Chol Deng Alak. [Photo courtesy]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Warrap-governor-and-Abyei-Chief-administrator.png?resize=1024%2C576&quality=80&ssl=1)
The move is the latest in a wave of high-level changes that have reshaped the government in recent weeks.
In the first decree, read on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), Kiir removed Francis Marial Abur as governor of Warrap State. Abur had been appointed to the position in October 2023, replacing General Akol Koor Kuc, who was briefly named governor after the removal of Kuol Muor Muor.
Kiir appointed Magok Magok Deng as the new governor of Warrap, a state that has been plagued by intercommunal violence and political instability.
In a separate decree, Kiir dismissed Chol Deng Alak as chief administrator of the Abyei Administrative Area, a contested region along the Sudan-South Sudan border. Chol, who was appointed in January 2023 to replace Kuol Diem Kuol, was replaced by Charles Abyei Jok.
The president also removed Bol Muorter as deputy chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, appointing Aguek Ring Mabil as his successor.
The latest reshuffle follows a series of significant government changes over the past few weeks.
Earlier this month, Kiir dismissed two vice presidents, James Wani Igga and Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, replacing them with businessman Benjamin Bol Mel and Josephine Lago Yanga, chairperson of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA).
Kiir also removed Tut Gatluak Manimeh as presidential envoy for the Middle East and appointed him as South Sudan’s ambassador to Kenya.
The president also dismissed Peter Lam Both as secretary-general of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), replacing him with James Wani Igga, the party’s first deputy chairperson.
Other notable changes included the removal of Akech Tong Aleu as director-general of the Internal Security Bureau (ISB) of the National Security Service (NSS) and the dismissal of Western Equatoria State Governor Alfred Futuyo Karaba and Health Minister Yolanda Awel Deng, both members of the opposition SPLM-IO.
On Monday, Kiir promoted General Charles Chiec Mayor, the deputy ISB Director-General for Administration and Finance who had been acting ISB chief since Akec’s removal, to the rank of full general and named him the new head of the ISB.
Some of these presidential decrees have sparked criticism from opposition leader and First Vice President Riek Machar who described the dismissals of the Western Equatoria governor and the health minister as “unilateral” and in violation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
