South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who heads both the government and the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), has carried out a mini-reshuffle in the cabinet, dismissing several ministers from positions allocated to the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) under the ongoing transitional power-sharing framework.
The changes were announced via presidential decrees aired on the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Wednesday evening.
Those removed include Lasuba Lodoru Wango from the Ministry of Federal Affairs, Martin Gama Abocha from the Ministry of Mining, Peter Marcelo Nasir from the Ministry of Energy and Dams, and Ayaa Benjamin Warile from the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.
Three of the dismissed ministers—Martin Gama Abocha, Peter Marcelo Nasir, and Ayaa Benjamin Warile—are prominent figures in the SPLM-IO faction aligned with detained First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.
Lasuba Lodoru Wango, however, belongs to the breakaway interim SPLM-IO leadership under Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol, which split from the main Machar-led group in April 2025 after Machar’s detention.
Kiir’s administration has endorsed the interim SPLM-IO faction—led by figures like Stephen Par Kuol—as the legitimate SPLM-IO representative in government.
Officials argue this step is essential to push forward the implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement and to pave the way for elections slated for December 2026.
The move has effectively marginalized the Machar loyalist wing, as Machar has remained in detention since March 2025 facing treason and related charges in a special Juba court.
In the appointments that followed, Pur Solomon Gok was named the new Minister of Federal Affairs. Lasuba Lodoru Wango was reassigned to head the Ministry of Mining, taking over from Martin Gama Abocha.
Agok Makur Kur, who serves as secretary-general of the interim SPLM-IO leadership, was appointed Minister of Energy and Dams. Nuna Rudolf Bidivu was selected as the new Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, replacing Ayaa Benjamin Warile.
Observers interpret the reshuffle as a deliberate effort to purge the remaining Machar-aligned ministers from the national cabinet, a development that could intensify fractures within the SPLM-IO.
In a related development last month, the presidency and cabinet endorsed amendments to core elements of the 2018 peace agreement. These changes decoupled the December 2026 elections from the permanent constitution-making process, a political census, and various institutional reforms.
The revisions also eliminated language asserting that the peace deal supersedes the constitution.
The 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan—signed by Kiir, Machar, and other leaders—has encountered repeated setbacks, including multiple postponements of elections.
The current schedule targets December 2026, though Machar loyalists have objected, claiming their exclusion from presidency-led consultations.