Salva Kiir dismisses environment minister after fight

November 26, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, has fired the national minister of environment, Abdallah Deng Nhial after he was allegedly involved in physical fight with a lawmaker from Warrap state.

In a presidential decree issued on Tuesday, Kiir said the minister was relieved from his job with effect from 26 November. A replacement has yet to be named.

Although the decree did not explain the reason for the minister’s removal, many believed his fight with Machok Majong Jong last week prompted his dismissal.

Majong is a lawmaker representing Gogrial West county.

It’s understood that an argument between the pair on the premises of the national parliament in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, escalated in to a physical fight.

Eyewitnesses said Both Nhial and Majong were arguing in a larger group over the fate of the contested Abyei region in the office of the chairman of the parliamentary affairs committee, before the debate turned into a tit-for-tat exchange of insults.

Nhial, who hails from Bor South constituency in Jonglei state, reportedly asserted that “Abyei was already a gone case as part of South Kordofan” in Sudan; a view point which was said to have angered Majong.

It’s alleged that Nhial slapped the Gogrial West county legislator after he criticised Nhial for using “bad names”.

Politicians from Warrap state, as well as a youth group, lobbied the president to take action against the former minister.

Following the incident, Majong attempted to raise a motion in parliament, calling for a vote of no-confidence against the minister.

However, a member of parliament told Sudan Tribune that the request was dismissed, with the aggrieved MP advised to look for other legal avenues.

A press statement issued by the Warrap State Youth Intellectuals Forum (WSYIF), and signed by their chairman, Peter Mayenwen Majongdit, condemns the minister’s actions.

“WSYIF calls on the national minister to apologise to the people of the constituency of Kuach North and South Gogrial West, because the act done by the minister [has] disgraced the entire community of Gogrial West and the people represented by the Hon Machok Majong Jong”, the statement reads in part.

The youth group also pressed the country’s leadership to take strong disciplinary measures against the minister.

The former minister was a senior leader in Sudan’s Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Hassan Al-Turabi, who contested for the presidency in the 2010 elections. He was among the new ministers Kiir appointed to Kiir’s cabinet in August after his 23 July reshuffle.

(ST)