President Salva Kiir on Monday directed the new minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation Foreign Minister James Pitia Morgan to address the financial challenges faced by foreign missions, a statement from the office of the president said.
Kiir made the remarks during the swearing-in ceremony of the new Foreign Minister Amb. James Pitia Morgan and urged him to bring his diverse expertise and insights to the table.
The president emphasized the need for a collaborative approach to advancing the nation’s foreign policy and the welfare of the staff deployed at foreign missions.
For his part, Amb. Pitia said he would do his best to build participatory leadership at the foreign ministry for the effective execution of its mandate.
Until his appointment last Thursday 31 August, Pitia was South Sudan’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Djibouti, and IGAD and replaced Deng Dau Deng who was serving as the acting foreign minister.
In January 2018, the London Embassy was closed due to a lack of funds. In March 2018, a South Sudan Embassy employee In Washington, USA, told a media outlet that he had not been paid for over a year and that he had resorted to moonlighting driving ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.