South Sudan President Salva Kiir fires parliament speaker and deputy

South Sudan President Salva Kiir has reportedly removed parliament speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba and deputy speaker Permena Awerial Aluong in a sudden leadership shake-up.

Africanews and NTV Kenya reported on Tuesday that the decree was read in parliament and that new leaders were named to replace them. The reporting says Joseph Ngere Paciko will take over as speaker and Abuk Paiti Ayiik as deputy speaker.

According to Africanews, the move followed a petition from an SPLM parliamentary caucus accusing Kumba of mismanaging parliamentary funds. No public official decree text was found in the sources reviewed, but multiple outlets carried the same basic account of the removals.

Kumba had served as speaker since 2021 and was the first woman to preside over South Sudan’s parliament, according to Africanews. The reported dismissals are likely to add to tensions in a political system that remains fragile after years of conflict and power-sharing disputes.

At the time of writing, there was no separate public statement from Kumba or Aluong in the material reviewed.