South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has removed the managing director of Nilepet and replaced him with Joseph Cleto Deng, who was Kiir's office manager at the ruling party SPLM and hails from the president's home state.

The outgoing director Paul Adong has been moved away to the headquarters of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining without new assignment.

No official explanation has been given for Adong's dismissal and commentators offered conflicting explanations. Some sources suggested the change was related to Nilepet's management of letter of credit policy for petrol stations.

Some critics of the move are attributing Adong's removal to tribal reasons, saying that too many public offices are dominated by people from Warrap, Kiir's home state. Several recent senior police appointees also hail from Warrap State.

Recently appointed officials from Warrap include the former minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, Lual Acuil, who is now the head of the telecommunications authority, General Henry Kuany Director General of prisons, General Gregory Akec, commissioner general  for  fire brigade and Joseph Cleto Deng Kuel himself.

All these senior appointments were made in the month of May alone.