By Matik Kueth
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has ousted Foreign Affairs Minister Ramadan Abdalla Goc from his position, less than a year after his appointment.
In a presidential decree read on the state-owned SSBC Wednesday night, Kiir also fired Goc’s Deputy, Amb. Monday Semaya Kumba and appointed him the new foreign minister.
Monday Kumba has been South Sudan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation since April, after previously serving as Ambassador to China, Malaysia, and Australia.
Goc will now serve as a Member of Parliament in the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly after Kiir rescinded Albino Mathom Ayuel’s appointment.
However, President Kiir did not provide reasons for dismissing Goc, prompting speculation that the dismissal was due to the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s rejection of Mr. Makula Kintu, a Congolese national deported by the United States to Juba, citing that South Sudan’s embassy in the United States said he was a South Sudanese, triggering diplomatic conflict between the two countries to linger this week.
The story of Kintu, reportedly feigning to be Nimeri Garang, likely lies at the center of the issue.
Despite President Kiir’s changes, South Sudan is actively seeking global support for elections scheduled for December 2026.
Although the United Nations has offered to assist in completing the peace process and facilitating the upcoming elections, political tensions continue to escalate.
South Sudan’s diplomacy has successfully fostered strong ties with various nations, including Egypt, Japan, and China, the latter being a key player in the country’s oil industry.