Kiir ousts South Sudan parliament leaders after ruling party no-confidence vote

# Kiir ousts South Sudan parliament leaders after ruling party no-confidence vote

President Salva Kiir has removed the speaker of South Sudan’s transitional parliament and her deputy, moving quickly after lawmakers in his party backed a vote accusing both officials of corruption and poor management.

The dismissal affects Jemma Nunu Kumba, who had been speaker since 2021, and her deputy, Parmena Awerial Aluong. Pan African Visions reported that a presidential decree on the event date removed both after the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement caucus endorsed a no-confidence vote against them.

The move matters because the speaker’s office is one of the key posts in South Sudan’s fragile political settlement. The country’s transitional legislature was expanded under the 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war, and the SPLM was allocated the speaker’s position as part of the power-sharing arrangement. A change at the top of the assembly can therefore affect both procedure and factional balance.

According to the report, SPLM chief whip Tulio Odongi told parliament that the president acted on the caucus resolution. He cited the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and the party constitution as the basis for the move. That framing suggests the dismissal was presented as both a political and legal action within the governing party’s structure.

Kiir also appointed new leaders. Joseph Ngere Paciko, a lawmaker from Western Equatoria State, became the new speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, while Abuk Payiti Ayik was named deputy speaker for administration and finance. The rapid replacement indicates that the government wanted the chamber operating under new leadership without delay.

The report does not say Kumba was immediately given another post. It also does not provide further detail on the corruption or mismanagement allegations beyond the no-confidence vote itself. Still, her removal is notable because she was described as a senior SPLM figure and a longtime ally of Kiir.

That combination makes the decision politically sensitive. In South Sudan, parliamentary leadership is not merely ceremonial. It is embedded in the country’s broader transition, where institutions remain shaped by the peace deal and by continuing efforts to keep former rivals inside a shared political structure.

The event date therefore marks a clear assertive step by the presidency and ruling party. Kiir removed two senior parliamentary figures, the SPLM justified the action through its caucus process, and replacements were named the same day. Even with limited evidence, the message is plain: the leadership of South Sudan’s legislature remains subject to the balance of power inside the ruling coalition.