Kiir sacks opposition governor of Upper Nile, names replacement

JUBA, JANUARY 26^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Thursday night issued a republican decree dismissing the governor of the country’s restive Upper Nile state Gen. Abudhok Anyang after a request from his first deputy and main rival Dr. Riek Machar Teny.

In the decree read out on the state-own South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), the president did not cite any reason for the changes, but sources told Sudans Post that the replacement of Upper Nile governor was asked for by Machar.

In another decree, the South Sudanese head of state appointed Honorable James Othok Oyiay of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by Machar as the new governor.

Although no reason was cited in the presidential decree, sources close to the First Vice President told Sudans Post this evening that the decision to replace the Upper Nile governor was tabled before the president in August last year.

“The chairman and commander in chief of SPLM-IO Dr. Riek Machar Teny made the request to the president since last year and we welcome it today. There are a lot of other requests under the table of the president,” the source who do not want to be named said.

In a statement, the Executive Director in the Office of the President Nyenagwek Kuol welcomed the replacement of the Upper Nile governor, signaling confirmation that Kiir made the changes with consensus from Machar.

“Congratulations [to] Hon James Othok Oyiay, [new] Governor of the Upper Nile. I am so much happy for you and my best wishes to you comrade,” she wrote in a brief congratulatory message she posted on her Facebook profile this evening.