By Deng Machol
JUBA, South Sudan — President Salva Kiir has dismissed the speaker of the national transitional parliament and her deputy after his ruling party backed a no-confidence vote accusing them of corruption and mismanagement, in a move that reshapes leadership within the country’s fragile legislature.
A presidential decree issued Tuesday removed Jemma Nunu Kumba and her deputy Parmena Awerial Aluong, days after lawmakers from the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) caucus voted to oust them over alleged misconduct and poor management.
Speaking during a parliamentary sitting at the August House, SPLM Chief Whip Tulio Odongi said the president acted on the caucus resolution, citing provisions of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan as well as the party’s constitution.
In separate decrees, Kiir appointed Joseph Ngere Paciko, a lawmaker from Western Equatoria State, as the new speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, and Abuk Payiti Ayik as deputy speaker for administration and finance.
Kumba, a senior SPLM figure and longtime ally of Kiir who had served as speaker since 2021, was not immediately assigned a new role.
The shake-up comes as the SPLM moves to tighten its grip on the legislature during a prolonged political transition under the 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war.
The deal expanded the Transitional National Legislative Assembly to 550 members and allocated the speaker’s position to the SPLM, reflecting delicate power-sharing arrangements among former rival factions.
