South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has fired the country’s finance minister just over two months after appointing him, extending a relentless churn in key cabinet posts in the world’s newest country.
The South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation announced late on Monday that Kiir had relieved Athian Diing Athian of his position as finance minister, appointing Barnaba Bak Chol in his place.
Analysts say Kiir regularly reshuffles the ranks of South Sudan’s military and government to maintain control as he contends with armed conflict and speculation within the country about his eventual succession.
Kiir has led a transitional government in the impoverished and fractured nation since independence from Sudan in 2011.
Scheduled elections have twice been postponed and First Vice President Riek Machar, Kiir’s main rival during a 2013-2018 civil war, was charged earlier this year with treason.
No reason was given for the eighth change of finance minister since 2020. Barnaba Bak Chol previously held the position for about half a year until he was fired in March 2024.
