South Sudan hunts for persons behind Kiir fake letter on sackings, hiring

The government of South Sudan has dismissed what it terms a fake letter announcing President Salva Kiir’s sacking of two senior officials.

Juba sought to clarify that Kiir’s private secretary and office manager were not among those who were relieved of their duties.

On Tuesday, Kiir sacked two senior aides following an embarrassing situation where he appointed a dead man to serve on a panel to lead discussions on elections scheduled for December.

Steward Soroba Budia's appointment was announced in a presidential order dated January 30, but local media pointed out that the member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), had died five years ago.

Without giving reasons, an official statement said the president had sacked his press secretary David Amour Major and the chief administrator in the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Valentino Dhel Maluet.

Following the changes, a second letter started circulating on social media claiming that Kiir had appointed Michael Majak Kiir as Office Manager and Wol Wol Agekdit as Private Secretary.

The letter claimed that Kiir has fired Marin Ayrm Gregory Vasilli as his office manager and Akol Areech Rajok as private secretary.

Kiir’s Office Executive Director James Deng Wal said the materials included unauthorised doctored versions of legitimate press releases issued by the Minister of Presidential Affairs.

“The office hereby states unequivocally that the said documents are fraudulent, unauthorised and did not originate from the office of the President of the Republic. They constitute deliberate acts of misinformation designed to deceive the public and undermine official communication,” Wal said.

Wal added, “All relevant security agencies and law enforcement organs have been directed to track the digital footprints of these fabrications.”

On Monday, Amour said in a press release that the president's office had relied entirely on the "accuracy and currency" of the names submitted by "stakeholders" for inclusion on the panel.

"It is now evident that a thorough verification was not done by one of the stakeholders, which resulted in this unfortunate administrative oversight," Amour said.

He did not name the stakeholder, while the UDP has not commented, according to the BBC.

It is unclear whether the statement led to Amour's dismissal.

There had been speculation before the statement that he would be sacked.

Budia had been a signatory to a peace agreement signed in 2018 to end the conflict that had hit South Sudan after its independence in 2011.

Kiir has set up the panel, made up of representatives of different parties, to pave the way for elections.