President Salva Kiir Mayardit has removed Justice Minister Michael Makuei Lueth and reappointed former minister Wek Mamer Kuol to the influential justice portfolio, according to a presidential decree broadcast on state television on Thursday night.
The decree, read on the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), transferred Makuei to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and named Wek Mamer as minister of justice and constitutional affairs, with immediate effect.
No reason was given for the reshuffle.
The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs serves as the government’s principal legal adviser.
Makuei, a longtime ally of Kiir and one of South Sudan’s longest-serving cabinet ministers, was appointed justice minister in November 2025. He oversaw several high-profile legal and political cases, including matters involving detained First Vice President Riek Machar and former Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel.
Before taking over the justice portfolio, Makuei had served in various ministerial positions since the era of southern Sudan’s semi-autonomous government prior to independence in 2011. He previously held the parliamentary affairs portfolio from 2010 to 2013.
Wek Mamer returns to the justice ministry less than a year after leaving the post. He served as justice minister from March to September 2025. Before his reappointment, he had been serving as minister of parliamentary affairs.
Civil society activist Ter Manyang Gatwech told Radio Tamazuj that some political observers had anticipated changes in government following Kiir’s recent visit to the Bahr el Ghazal region, which he said has often been followed by significant political decisions.
Ter also cited reported differences within the president’s inner circle over the possible release of Riek Machar and some of his associates, suggesting the latest reshuffle comes amid broader political discussions within the government.
Radio Tamazuj could not independently verify those claims.
The latest changes are part of a series of cabinet reshuffles carried out by Kiir, who retains the authority under the 2018 power-sharing agreement to appoint and dismiss senior national and state officials.
The transitional government has repeatedly said it intends to hold elections in December. If held as planned, they would be South Sudan’s first national elections since independence from Sudan in 2011.
Implementation of the 2018 peace agreement, which ended a five-year civil war, has been repeatedly delayed, with several key provisions still pending.
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