A member of a breakaway faction of the SPLM-IO, which calls itself the SPLM Interim Leadership, has been appointed national health minister in a presidential decree read on state television SSBC late Tuesday.
The appointment follows repeated calls by the South Sudan Doctors’ Union and civil society activists for the government to fill the leadership vacuum in the Health Ministry. These groups stressed the urgency of the situation amid ongoing health crises, including cholera and mpox outbreaks in parts of the country.
The position had been vacant since President Salva Kiir removed Yolanda Awel Deng, a senior member of the SPLM-IO under First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, on February 10.
Before his detention in Juba on March 26, Machar and his party protested Yolanda’s removal and demanded her reinstatement.
Machar rejected what he called a “unilateral decision” by the president, arguing that it violated the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement, which requires collegial decision-making among signatory parties before major changes in the transitional unity government.
“The political bureau calls on President Salva Kiir to uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement, as persistent violations through unilateral decisions and decrees threaten the very existence of the agreement,” Machar said in a statement issued in Juba.
The 2018 agreement grants the SPLM-IO the prerogative to appoint the health minister.
However, on Tuesday night, Kiir appointed Sarah Cleto Rial, a prominent member of the SPLM-IO and former governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal, as health minister.
Pal Mai Deng, spokesperson of the SPLM-IO under Dr. Riek Machar and minister of water and irrigation, told Radio Tamazuj that Cleto does not belong to their group and reaffirmed their demand for Yolanda’s reinstatement.
“We have received information about the appointment of Sarah Cleto as minister of health, but it is the same thing—the president has chosen violence over the implementation of the peace agreement,” he said. “The president acts with impunity; we did not recommend Sarah to be appointed as minister of health.”
In early April, the SPLM-IO split into two factions, further fracturing an already divided political landscape while Machar remained under house arrest in Juba.
A Juba-based group led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol declared an interim leadership and said it would continue implementing the peace agreement with Kiir. Several senior SPLM-IO officials boycotted the move, reaffirming their loyalty to Machar and backing his deputy, Oyet Nathaniel, as acting chairman until Machar’s release.
Meanwhile, in late April, government officials aligned with Kiir outlined plans to advance the 2018 peace agreement without Machar’s faction, including recognizing the new SPLM-IO group led by Kuol.
In other decrees on Tuesday night, Kiir removed Butrus Ruai Biel, the SPLM-IO-appointed commissioner of Fangak County in Jonglei State, and replaced him with Johnson Kuol Gai Nyok.