South Sudan’s Health Minister Luke Thompson Thoan Teny has rejected claims that the executive director of the National Public Health Institute (NPHI) is a presidential appointee, as a leadership dispute at the public health agency deepens.
Speaking at a news conference in Juba on Wednesday, Teny said the appointment of the NPHI executive director is governed by the National Public Health Institute Act of 2023, under which the minister appoints the director on the recommendation of the institute’s board.
“I want that to be taken clearly,” Teny said, insisting that President Salva Kiir does not directly appoint the NPHI executive director.
Teny said the NPHI board, appointed by Kiir in January 2026, met on June 26 with 12 of its 19 members present and decided to withdraw its earlier recommendation for the appointment of the executive director.
The minister said the board communicated its decision to him the same day. He said he spent about two months engaging board members in an effort to persuade them to reverse the decision before acting on it on Aug. 6.
Teny said his decision was based on the legal framework governing the institute and was not motivated by political considerations or a personal dispute with the former executive director.
“It is not political. It was an administrative decision,” he said.
The minister said anyone challenging his decision should seek legal redress through the courts, which he said could determine whether he had exceeded the powers granted to him under the law.
Minister denies vehicle allegations
Teny also denied allegations that he sought to remove the former NPHI executive director after the official refused to provide vehicles to his office.
He said the Health Ministry had requested temporary vehicle support from the NPHI to facilitate supervisory visits, monitoring, coordination and other official activities related to preparations for and response to Ebola virus disease.
Teny said the ministry initially requested three vehicles in a letter dated June 5, but he later cancelled the request after reviewing the correspondence and instructed his executive director to seek two vehicles instead.
He said the vehicles were intended solely for official duties and rejected suggestions that the request had contributed to the leadership dispute.
The disagreement comes as the government seeks to strengthen the institutional role of the NPHI, established under the 2023 law to assume some public health functions previously handled by the Health Ministry.
Teny said the dispute should be resolved through the legal framework governing the institute.
“Whoever wishes to challenge that decision has the right to challenge that through our judicial system,” he said.
The former NPHI executive director, when contacted by Radio Tamazuj for comment, declined to comment on the matter.
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