William Chan Acuil, former education minister in South Sudan’s Gogrial state has denied allegations he fell out with Governor Abraham Gum because of his political activities in support of deputy governor Santino Akot Abiem. Chan said Friday he does not know the reason behind his dismissal from the ministry, because he was not informed by the appointing authority and does not know what he has done to annoy him. “I really don’t know the motive. I just learned from the media of my relief from my position as the minister of education and I accepted. The decree did not say anything, so I cannot speculate”, said Chan when asked on Friday to say what he thinks may have prompted the decision of the governor to sack him. He denied that he was in any campaigning for removal of the governor. “That is not true. I have never talked to anybody against the governor. If I did not want him, I would not have accepted him in the first place to appoint me into his cabinet. So what you are saying is just an allegation. It is not true. Some people may be trying but not me. I have no that ambition now”, he said Multiple sources in the cabinet as well as local officials and the state members of parliament claimed separately that the two ministers may have been removed from their positions on political grounds. “I do not have much information about the cause for changes. But I know is that these changes were political. The governor knows he will not survive next reshuffle when the presidency accepts to appoint news governors to provide room for appointments of some governors by SPLM-IO. Another reason is that they are already people who started campaigning for the position of the governor. “The deputy governor Mr. Santino Akot Abiem is one of the people campaigning for the position and he has openly been saying he would appoint William Chan Acuil as his deputy once he is appointed. This is what I think may have prompted the governor to remove Chan to disarm Akot, Ariec Mayar Ariec, member of parliament said on Friday. The legislator further added that reason for removing the minister of finance from the office is to appease the group opposed to the governor and the county commissioner from the area in which the former comes by appointing one of their choices to silent them. Another reason for removing finance minister, he added, could be linked to suspicion that Tonj Governor Akec Tong Aleu has suspended his political support to governor Gum, even though he was the person who recommended his appointment when former Warrap state was split into three states.