President Salva Kiir. (Photo: PPU).

President Salva Kiir has defended his decision to remove Western Equatoria governor Alfred Futuyo Karaba, citing concerns over what he said was disloyalty and a growing rebellion in the state.

Mr. Futuyo was relieved from his position on 10th February 2025 – four years after he was appointed to the transitional government under SPLM-IO ticket.

First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar said in a statement that the removal of Futuyo and health minister Yolanda Awel, is a violation of the peace accord and urged President Salva Kiir to reinstate them.

However, Kiir revealed in a speech to his party members, that he had previously warned Dr. Machar about the governor’s conduct but said his concerns were dismissed.

The President further disclosed that after the governor’s removal, the Chairman of SPLM-IO wrote to him, requesting that he reconsider the decision and reinstate the dismissed official.

“As we speak here, there is a growing rebellion in Western Equatoria, because the Governor, who was in charge, has not been loyal to us, and I told the Chairman of his party that this man will one day cause a problem,” he said.

Kiir was speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of Dr. James Wani Igga as Secretary General of SPLM party.

“I said let us remove him. But my colleague refused. Now, when this happened, he didn’t come to me but he wrote to me, I saw his writing. He wrote to me that I should reconsider my decision of dismissing the Governor.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of SPLM-IO, Oyet Nathaniel, said the party will pursue dialogue with President Kiir to resolve the matter, including the removal of Health Minister Yolanda Awel, which he termed as violation of the peace agreement.

Oyet Nathaniel, also the First Deputy Speaker of the National Legislative Assembly, said it is not the first time that their appointees have been removed without consensus.

“If he refuses to reinstate the governor, it still aggravates the violation which has already been committed and this is not the first of its kind that the President has removed ministers or officials appointed on tickets of other parties and refused to reinstate them,” he said.

“We shall pursue dialogue with the President on this matter. We have not yet exhausted avenues to address this matter. There’s also the matter of the Minister of Health, which we are also discussing with the President. All this we hope will be resolved.”

On the night that President Kiir relieved him of his position without a replacement, armed elements allegedly attacked Futuyo at his residence, forcing him to leave the state capital, Yambio.

The SPLM-IO leadership in Juba condemned what it said was an assassination attempt on Mr Futuyo after the alleged assault by unidentified armed men, adding that the official was safe at a military barracks.