South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Wednesday night sacked the head of the state-owned Nile Petroleum Company (Nilepet), barely seven months after he was appointed, mid an acute fuel crisis in Juba.
In a presidential decree announced on the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), Kiir removed the managing director of Nilepet James Thelweng Mathiang Rok and appointed Chol Deng Thon Abel as his successor.
It remains unclear why Rok, appointed head of Nilepet in February 2017, was fired.
Nilepet is the public company managed by the government with a mandate to oversee oil exploration, production and marketing in South Sudan.
Oil is the main source of South Sudan’s exports and government revenue as well as a major source of hard currency.