The Governor of Unity state, Taban Deng Gai, has been fired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

It is not clear why President Kiir relieved mister Deng.

Mister Deng Gai, who was removed through a presidential decree earlier this evening, has been the governor of the oil-rich Unity state since his appointment in 2005, and was re-elected in the April 2010 elections.

He is the second democratically elected governor to be relieved by a presidential decree after Chol Tong Mayay of Lakes state since South Sudan gained its independence in 2011.

Joseph Monytuil replaces Deng as the caretaker governor of the state.

Mister Monytuil is the chairperson of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the SPLM, in the state.

He once headed the Ministry of Health in the previous autonomous region of southern Sudan.

The Interim Constitution gives a state care-taker Governor a mandate to prepare for elections within sixty days in the state where the Governor has been removed.