Kiir dismissed Deng Deng Akoon, South Sudan deputy minister of cabinet affairs

President Salva Kiir Mayardit dismissed Deng Deng Akoon, the country’s deputy minister of cabinet affairs, via presidential order.

This comes weeks after Akoon was named a member of the Reconstituted Transitional Council of States and then named the Council’s future speaker by the major armed opposition group.

A successor was not named in Kiir’s order, which was read on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation. The SPLM-IO is still yet to replace Akoon.

Akoon, a long-time supporter of First Vice President Machar, was nominated for speaker of the Council of States by the SPLM-IO in early July.

Kiir is likely to name a successor for Akoon and the deputy minister of interior, which was abandoned by SPLM-IO spokesperson Mabior Garang De Mabior, who has been outside the country for months protesting the agreement’s execution.