South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday appointed Akuei Bona Malwal as deputy minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, state media reported.
The announcement was made in a presidential decree broadcast on the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation.
Akuei, a career diplomat, replaces Monday Semaya Kumba, who was promoted to foreign minister earlier this month.
His appointment comes as South Sudan grapples with a deepening diplomatic spat with Washington, following a controversial deportation saga involving Congolese national Makula Kintu.
The United States had accused Juba of refusing to accept the deportee, allegedly mistaken as a South Sudanese citizen.
The situation escalated after the US imposed a blanket visa ban on all South Sudanese nationals. The United State also withdrew its peacekeepers from the U.N. mission in South Sudan on April 9.
Ter Manyang, a South Sudanese political observer, said Akuei’s experience could help mend relations with the U.S., which he said has urged Juba to improve human rights, democracy and rule of law.
However, he criticized Kiir for not appointing a woman to the post, saying it undermines the 35% gender quota required under the 2018 peace deal.
“Appointing only men does not reflect true and meaningful representation,” Manyang said.
Akuei previously served as South Sudan’s permanent representative to the United Nations from 2016 to 2023. He was also ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti and held roles at the African Union and other regional bodies.
Educated in the U.S., Akuei holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He is the son of veteran South Sudanese politician Bona Malwal Madut.