Five chairpersons and two deputy chairpersons of the Specialized Committees in the parliament have been fired.

The committee heads were relieved by the Speaker of the National parliament, Mannasse Magok Rundial, in an extra-ordinary sitting on Monday.

Those relieved include, Wani Kundu, the former Chairpersons of Information, Communication and Postal Services, Pacwali Clement Batali, the Chairperson of Land and Agriculture;

Gatwech Lam Koc – Energy and Mining, Julia Mwelinga – Public Service Committee, and Martin Mobil – Committee of Physical Infrastructure, were also among those relieved.

The Deputy Chairpersons include Bitali Moses, Deputy Chairperson Energy and Mining Committee, and Grace Anne, the Deputy Chairperson for Water Resources and Irrigation.

“Well, of course that is a retaliation to the boycott that we made – we boycotted the sitting on the 19^th of November 2015, regarding amendment of the constitution,” Thomas Wani Kunda, Former Chairperson of the Committee of Information, Communication and Postal Services, told Eye Radio.

Efforts to reach Speaker Rundial for comment on the matter was unsuccessful

In October, President Salva Kiir issued a republican order splitting the 10 states into 28.

In November, the National Parliament amended the constitution to include the newly created states.

However, the amendment does not mention that there will be 28 states.

37 Members of Parliament representing the Equatoria region walked out of the parliament in protest during the session.

They said the sitting was unconstitutional, saying the bill should be taken to the Council of States for approval.

Another group of the 24 Members of Parliament from the Nuer Parliamentarian Caucus also rejected the amendment.