Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir appointed a prominent opposition leader, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, as transport minister on Wednesday, ending the veteran politician’s prolonged exclusion from the transitional unity government despite his role in the 2018 peace agreement.
The announcement, broadcast by the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), comes amid heightened political tensions and setbacks in the power-sharing government formed under the 2018 peace deal. This marks Dr. Akol’s first ministerial appointment since the unity government was established in February 2020.
Many had expected President Kiir to name Dr. Akol as one of South Sudan’s five vice presidents in February 2020 after his coalition, the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), submitted a list of nominees. Instead, Kiir chose Hussein Abdelbagi, who was recently removed as vice president and reassigned as agriculture minister.
Dr. Akol, who now leads the National Democratic Movement (NDM), a party he founded in 2016 to challenge Kiir’s leadership, has long been a vocal government critic. He briefly served as agriculture minister before resigning in 2016 after clashes in Juba derailed an earlier peace agreement.
A seasoned politician, Dr. Akol is from Upper Nile State and once led the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC), a party he formed after breaking away from the SPLM in 2009.
He ran against Kiir in the 2010 presidential election before South Sudan’s independence but lost. Before independence, Dr. Akol served as Sudan’s foreign minister.
Ter Manyang, a South Sudanese political observer, welcomed Dr. Akol’s appointment but questioned the choice of portfolio.
“The appointment is not bad—it’s a good step—though the position he was supposed to hold was minister of higher education, as it is allocated to SSOA in the power-sharing agreement,” Manyang said.
He added that divisions within SSOA—between factions loyal to Hussein Abdelbagi and Dr. Akol—could lead to disputes. “Unless the president made prior consultations, there may be complaints,” Manyang noted.
In a separate decree, Kiir dismissed Gabriel Changson Chang as higher education minister, replacing him with Madut Biar Yel. Changson was appointed under the SSOA quota, while Yel represents the Former Detainees (FDs), another group party to the 2018 peace deal.
Kiir also removed Kuol Deng Kuol as defense undersecretary, appointing his brother-in-law, Gregory Deng Kuac, in his place. Gregory was previously deputy director general of the National Security Service’s general intelligence bureau.
No reasons were given for the changes.
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