File: Lt. Gen. John Akot Maluth was fired after nearly three years managing the immigration department.

President Salva Kiir has sacked the Director-General of the Department of Nationality, Passport, and Immigration.

Lieutenant  General John Akot Maluth was fired through a presidential decree after nearly three years managing the immigration department.

In another decree, the president appointed Lt. Gen. Atem Marol Biar as the new Director-General.

The decrees announced on state broadcaster SSBC-TV Wednesday evening gave no reasons for the change.

Now the former immigration boss, Gen. John Akot Maluth was appointed to head the department in June 2018, replacing Gen. Majak Akech Malok, the current Inspector General of Police.

But over the past two years, there have been many public outcries over the running of the department.

The immigration department suffered numerous machine breakdowns, paralyzing the issuance of national identity cards and passports to those who had applied.

Stranded travelers were forced to obtain temporary travel documents while others reportedly paid exorbitantly to get passports from what they called the “backdoor.”

Prior to this appointment, the new Director-General, Gen. Atem Marol Biar was the Assistant Inspector of Police for General Training, Human Resource Development.