Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan’s suspended undersecretary of the ministry of health Dr. Victoria Anib Majur has defied orders of her suspension by the minister of health Elizabeth Achuei and has continued to come to office, a senior government official at the ministry has said.
Last month, Minister Achuei suspended Ms. Victoria and formed a committee to investigate her after the former made appointments at the ministry while the minister was on a government mission to the UN General Assembly in New York.
Speaking to Sudans Post on Wednesday evening, a senior government official who is also working at the ministry said the suspended undersecretary has been coming to her office while Dr. Samson Paul Baba, the acting undersecretary is working from another office.
“She hasn’t been respectful to the orders and directives the honorable minister of health and as such she has been coming to the office and the acting undersecretary has been working from another office,” the official who requested to be identified said.
“I am not sure until when such a decision is going to be solved because I have also been told that the former undersecretary is not cooperating with the team that is led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny,” the official added. What happened?
The ongoing power struggle begun on October 10, 2021, after the undersecretary – acting, allegedly, on directives of Vice-president Hussein Abdelbaggi – made reassignments of director-generals and directors without consulting the minister.
On October 15, the minister issued a ministerial order suspending the reassignments made by the undersecretary, sparking a warning from Vice-president Hussein who nullified the ministerial order cancelling the changes saying the actions of the undersecretary were justified because the minister was not in the country.
South Sudan Doctors Union (SSDU) then appealed to President Salva Kiir Mayardit to intervene to resolve the power struggle within the ministry of health to avert deterioration of the already fragile health system in the country.
“The SSDU further calls on H E Salva Kiir Mayardit and the entire Presidency to quickly intervene, find a lasting solution to the differences, and put the MoH back on the right path,” partly read a statement issued by the SSDU on Tuesday .
“The SSDU hopes the Presidency will encourage the MoH leadership to maintain high integrity and professionalism and carry out their mandate for the benefit of the people of South Sudan,” the statement added.
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