Madol Arol Kachuol, the South Sudanese supreme court deputy chief justice ousted last week, says his removal is normal and that he is ready to serve the country in any other capacity.
Last week President Salva Kiir issued decrees removing Madol and replacing him with John Gatwich Lul, chairman of the national Anti-Corruption Commission.
“There is no problem. I am happy. Changes are normal practices in any system and they should not cause panic and concerns,” said Madol when reached by phone.
He did not answer directly as to whether he had been consulted before the decision was made.
Madol also neither confirmed nor denied that there had been differences between him and the chief justice.
“I have no comments to make about the allegations you are talking about. I am not aware and even if there were issues, the media would not be the appropriate platform. There are other means to use,” said Madol.
Although Madol has been removed from the supreme court, he remains in the judicial service, according to remarks earlier this week by the presidential spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny.
Ateny explained that the constitution permits the president in consultation with Judicial Service Commission to appoint and replace the most senior supreme court officials, including the chief justice and his deputy.
However, the constitution actually says that Kiir may only remove a supreme court justice in cases of “gross misconduct, incompetence and incapacity and upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Service Commission.”
No such finding by the Judicial Service Commission has been made in the case of Madol, nor did Kiir provide a reason for Madol’s dismissal.
Madol is one of the longest serving senior judicial officials and has presided over many high-profile cases over the years.
Some observers have claimed that Madol’s removal was done to diffuse brewing tension between the chief justice Chan Reec Madut and Madol over the manner in which chief justice has been managing the affairs of the judicial system.
The supreme court chief justice had been asked to recuse himself from a case against Salva Kiir’s Establishment Order but he refused to do so. The judge had published a newspaper advertisement praising the president’s decision to create 28 new states in place of the 10 existing ones.
File photo: Chief Justice Chan Reec’s congratulatory announcement for the 28 states