South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has removed caretaker Health Minister John Gai Yoh just three days after appointing him, in a reshuffle that also includes a change in the leadership of the National Security Service (NSS).
Dr. John Gai Yoh was appointed caretaker health minister on Sept. 28 and assumed office on Sept. 30. He was replaced by Dak Duop Bichiok in a presidential decree read on state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Thursday evening.
The decree did not give a reason for Dr. Gai Yoh’s removal.
In a separate decree, President Kiir dismissed Gen. Napoleon Adok Gai as deputy director-general of the Internal Security Bureau of the NSS.
Gen. Apiu Goch Dut was appointed to replace him and was promoted from major general to general in a separate decree.
Apiu is a former managing director of Sudd Investment, a South Sudanese company linked to the National Security Service (NSS), including through its involvement in the country’s oil and security sectors.
The changes come as President Kiir heads a caretaker administration following the dissolution of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity on 22 September.
The transitional government was established under the 2018 peace agreement between the government and opposition groups. Its dissolution came three months before elections scheduled for 22 December 2026.
Under the new arrangement, President Kiir remains in office with constitutional powers during the electoral period until an elected president is sworn in.
The latest decrees do not indicate whether the changes in the health ministry and the NSS are connected.
President Kiir has regularly reshuffled senior government officials, including ministers, state governors and security officials.
Dr. Gai Yoh previously served as minister of education and as presidential adviser on education affairs. He also served as South Sudan’s ambassador to Turkey.
He is currently serving as head of the secretariat for the two-week Inter-Party Dialogue on election-related matters being held in Juba.
Bichiok, the new caretaker health minister, previously served in the transitional unity government, including as minister of public service and human resource development.
Dr. Gai Yoh and Bichiok are both from Upper Nile State.
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