JUBA, South Sudan — President Salva Kiir has dismissed Foreign Minister Ramadan Mohamed Abdallah Goc and appointed his deputy, Monday Semaya Kumba, as the new foreign minister, state media reported late Wednesday. The move follows a diplomatic standoff with the United States over Juba’s initial refusal to admit a Congolese man deported from the U.S., which led to threats of visa revocation for South Sudanese citizens. No official explanation was given for Goc’s dismissal.
The reshuffle came a day after South Sudan permitted the entry of the deported individual, easing immediate tensions with Washington. Kumba, the former ambassador to China and non-resident ambassador to Australia and Malaysia, now assumes the role of foreign minister.
Simultaneously, South Sudan’s main opposition party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), is experiencing internal upheaval. On Wednesday, a faction appointed Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol as interim chairman, replacing First Vice President Riek Machar, who has been under house arrest since March 26 following clashes in Upper Nile state.
The appointment of Kuol has been met with resistance from Machar loyalists, including Deputy Chairman Nathaniel Oyet Pierino, who is currently in exile. Oyet accused Kuol of conspiring with President Kiir to oust Machar and suspended him from the party earlier this week. Kuol dismissed the suspension, stating that the party “cannot be led or take orders from self-exiled leaders.”
The SPLM-IO’s military wing remains loyal to Machar, with spokesperson Lam Paul Gabriel labeling those who attended the meeting that appointed Kuol as “betrayers.” Analysts warn that the internal divisions within the SPLM-IO could destabilize the fragile 2018 peace agreement, which ended a five-year civil war that claimed over 400,000 lives.
