By William Madouk
The newly appointed minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amb. Monday Semaya Kumba has been instructed to consolidate South Sudan’s foreign policy.
During the swearing-in ceremony Friday, President Salva Kiir Mayardit asked Ambassador Semaya to advance the foreign policy and cleanse South Sudan’s global image among its peer nations.
“President Salva Kiir Mayardit directed the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Amb. Monday Semaya Kumba to advance the country’s foreign policy and project its global image,” the presidential press unit quoted Kiir saying.
Chief Justice Chan Reec Madut administered the oath-taking ceremony.
President Kiir highlighted Amb. Kumba’s rich experience in diplomacy and foreign affairs and believes in his ability to represent the country well on the global scene.
Meanwhile, ambassador Semaya thanked the President for this important position and pledged to work with his colleagues at the Ministry to improve the nation’s diplomatic relations.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is in charge of directing the country’s diplomatic operations, representing it in regional and international forums, and promoting its interests overseas.
In a presidential decree broadcast on Wednesday evening on the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), President Kiir sacked the minister Ramdan M. Abdallah Goc but appointed him a member of parliament.
In the reshuffle, Monday Semaya Kumba was removed as deputy minister and later appointed foreign affairs minister. There were no grounds cited for the dismissals.
The ex-minister was caught up in a diplomatic dispute between Juba and Washington DC over the return of South Sudanese deportees after the South Sudanese authorities barred the entry of one Makula Kintu, a Congolese national who was deported to Juba after allegedly impersonating Nimeri Garang.
However, to ease the diplomatic friction, South Sudan accepted Kintu.
Foreign affairs said “In the spirit of the existing friendly relations between South Sudan and the United States, the government of the Republic of South Sudan has decided to grant Mr. Makula Kintu permission to enter the country,”
Foreign affairs empathized that based on the decision above all relevant authorities at Juba International Airport are instructed to facilitate Mr. Kintu’s arrival as soon as possible.
The reversal comes days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Saturday that the U.S. was immediately revoking visas issued to all South Sudanese passport holders.
Rubio cited “the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner” as the reason for the action, adding that the U.S. would also block arriving South Sudanese citizens at U.S. ports of entry.
Also, Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau stated that it is unacceptable and irresponsible for South Sudanese officials to question their own Embassy’s determination—as far as the U.S is concerned, the Embassy’s certification is definitive, and the subject is closed.
“We cannot have a repatriation system that allows foreign governments to reopen and relitigate eligibility for repatriation after those very governments had previously certified such eligibility and an individual has been repatriated,” he added.
“What’s really at stake here is whether we will have a workable repatriation system or not. As far as our Administration is concerned, the answer is clear. Hopefully, the Government of South Sudan will recognize its obligation to accept this individual and hence prevent this situation from escalating even further,” he concluded.
Section of South Sudanese, who were affected pleaded with the US administration to refrain from punishing all civilians for the error of the South Sudan government.
They described the revocation of South Sudanese visas as unfair and called for fast action to reverse it.