South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Wednesday evening sacked Deputy Commissioner General of the Revenue Authority Albino Dak Othow and replaced him with Taban Abel Aguek.
In a presidential decree announced on state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) television, Kiir did not give any reason for the sacking of the revenue official, who was just one year into the job.
The new Deputy Commissioner General of the Revenue Authority, Taban Abel, was a minister in the defunct Eastern Lakes State.
The Revenue Authority is a non-oil revenue collecting institution that was established in 2016.
The dismissal of the Authority’s deputy commissioner general came amid deteriorating economic situation and the devaluation of the local currency which has resulted in the soaring of commodity prices.
South Sudan’s citizens are complaining about skyrocketing prices of essential commodities like food due to the deteriorating economic situation.
The landlocked oil-rich country depends on oil revenue to finance 98 per cent of the budget, but production has reduced due to the war in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
South Sudan’s oil pipeline to international markets, which passes through neighbouring Sudan, was damaged in February, prompting the Dar Petroleum Oil Company to suspend loadings.
A team of technical experts from the two countries has now been working to fix the broken pipeline so that oil production can resume in the coming few months.