Rizik Zachariah Hassan, governor of Lol State, has issued an administrative order sacking his Information Minister Francis Piol Bol Buk, less than six months after the appointment was made.
Governor Rizik, according to the order which became public on Tuesday, did not provide any reason for firing Buk without new assignment.
The former minister has been replaced with Angelo Wol Mawien, a former press secretary of former Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Kuel Aguer Kuel, who has become an ally of governor Rizik.
Local officials and members of parliament attributed the cause of changes to performance-related matters, as Buk was among the first officials to flee Raja when it was overrun last month and never returned to the headquarters of the state when Raja came under attack by armed gunmen.
“Everywhere in the whole world, the minister of information remains around where the incident occurred. He or she is the first point of contact for official related matters with regards to communication, unfortunately our friend could not stand the situation and he was the first to flee and never returned,” said an official in Rizig’s office.
“So the governor was forced to make a decision because it has not been easy to communicate to the general public activities of the government.”