Africa-Press – South-Sudan. President Salva Kiir has reshuffled the Western Equatoria State’s cabinet, including the chairperson of HIV/AIDs, in a presidential decree signed on January 4, 2022.
The decree led to the dismissal of officials such as Makuku Sam (Minister of Public Service), William Baiki Adriano (Minister of Information and Communication), Isaac Murusal (Minister of Finance and Planning), and January Johnny Sebit (Chairperson of the HIV/AIDS Commission). The officials sacked are all from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition.
Meanwhile, Amos Manga Morris has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the HIV/AIDS Commission, Dasio Tito Morris as the new Minister of Public Service and Human Resource Development, Isaac Murusal as Minister of Information and Communication, and William Adriano Baiki as Minister of Finance and Planning.
According to the governor’s office, the changes were a response to last year’s controversy among cabinet members, in which some of them boycotted a cabinet meeting chaired by Governor Alfred Futuyo Karaba.
However, Mr Adriano told the City Review on Friday in a WhatsApp conversation that the decision to reshuffle the cabinet was reached by consensus by the party’s county representatives.
“Our appointment in the SPLM-IO was considered by four defunct states [representations]. The state leadership of SPLM-IO sat down and approved the relief. “
The former minister of public service and human resource development, Makuku Sam, and the former chairperson of the HIV/AIDS commission, Johnny Sebit, were not reappointed, and the governor’s office did not explain the reason.
Disagreement On December 9, 2021, at least 10 ministers in Western Equatoria State boycotted a cabinet meeting a day after the governor cautioned the officials against misuse of public funds destined for service delivery.
Former Detainees (FDs) and ministers from the ruling SPLM party signed the petition against Governor Futuyo in a letter they sent to the president, requesting his urgent action to fix the problem.
The group accused Futuyo of withdrawing money from the state’s account and defying the order of Vice President for Service Cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi, to cease construction of shops on land belonging to Yabongo primary.
The state ministers noted in a petition letter that “we have a fundamental right to know the contents of the state government’s budget and its expenditures.”
“However, since the establishment of the cabinet, the Hon. Governor has been keeping details of the state government budget secret, which is illegal.”
“That statement was completely false and amounts to melting the public against cabinet ministers, which is unlawful and hence unacceptable. We would like to condemn in the strongest possible terms the baseless corruption allegations that he made against us.’’
Those who signed it were the ministers of parliamentary and legal affairs, culture, youth, and sports; agriculture, environment, and frosty; animal resources, fisheries, and tourism; minister of cooperative and rural development, housing, land, and public utilities; minister of health; and minister of general education and instruction.
Mr Makuku Sam, the former minister of public service and human resource development and a member of the SPLM/A-IO, agreed with the other cabinet members who signed the petition. Sam added that the governor’s indictment of the entire cabinet enraged practically all the ministers.
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