South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has dismissed Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Joseph Malek Arop, without giving a reason for his removal.
Malek was removed with immediate effect in a presidential decree read on state broadcaster SSBC on Monday.
In a separate decree, President Kiir appointed William Othwon Awer as the new deputy justice minister.
Malek had served in the position since March 2020, when he was appointed as part of the cabinet formed under the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity.
His dismissal comes amid a dispute over the boundaries of the disputed Abyei area.
In recent weeks, Malek, who is from Twic in Warrap State, became involved in a controversy after publishing a map showing what he said were the boundaries of Abyei as determined by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Representatives of Abyei accused him of circulating a map that changed the boundaries established by the court’s 2009 ruling and called for an investigation.
Twic representatives, however, defended the map, saying it reflects the findings of The Hague ruling.
The dispute centres on competing interpretations of the 2009 arbitration decision and the boundary between Abyei and neighbouring areas claimed by Twic Mayardit communities.
The issue has long been a source of tension between the two communities.
Othwon, the new deputy justice minister, is a lawyer and former governor of Upper Nile State. He has also been involved in constitutional affairs and parliamentary human rights work.
He served as governor of Upper Nile in 2009 and has since been involved in South Sudan’s constitutional review process.
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