South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has issued a decree relieving his presidential special envoy and ambassador Albino Mathom Ayuel.
Ambassador Mathom was relieved of his duties, according to a decree broadcast on state-run television on Wednesday night. Mathom had been in the job since June 2021.
Mr. Mathom was also appointed in January 2024 as head of the government’s negotiating team with the opposition groups who did not sign the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.
No further details have been given regarding the circumstances surrounding Mathom’s removal. His sacking comes hours after Kenya’s President William Ruto and President Salva Kiir announced in Juba that discussions on the outstanding issues of the Kenya-led Tumaini (hope) Initiative peace process between the Government of South Sudan and the holdout opposition groups will resume in Nairobi soon.
Tumaini Initiative was launched on May 9, 2024, in Nairobi.
It is a high-level mediation for the conflict in South Sudan by incorporating all the holdout groups that have not signed the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.
President Ruto and former Kenyan Army Commander and Chief Mediator Major-Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo are the lead initiative mediators.
Separately, President Salva Kiir named Deng Lual Wol the new undersecretary at the Ministry of Petroleum, replacing Chol Thon Abel, who was just four months into the job.
The South Sudanese leader also removed Mayen Wol Jong from his position as technical advisor at the Ministry of Petroleum and replaced him with William Anyak Deng.
President Kiir has often exercised his powers to appoint and fire government officials, sometimes only a few months after their appointment, despite sharp criticism by policy analysts.