South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has once again reshuffled leadership in Upper Nile State, dismissing Governor James Koang Chuol and appointing Jacob Dollar Ruot in his place, the latest in a string of rapid political changes in the country’s restive north.
The presidential decree, read on state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Friday evening, cited constitutional provisions but offered no explanation for the sudden move.
The decision took immediate effect, marking the end of Koang’s brief seven-month tenure and ushering in yet another leadership transition in a state long plagued by insecurity and instability.
Koang, a seasoned general in the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), was appointed in March following renewed violence between the White Army militia and government troops.
His administration struggled to contain persistent clashes, inter-communal tensions, and growing humanitarian challenges that have displaced thousands across Upper Nile.
His successor, Jacob Dollar Ruot, is a prominent SPLM politician and former speaker of the state legislative assembly. Ruot, who also hails from Nasir County, inherits one of the toughest jobs in the country, governing a region that has seen governors come and go with striking regularity amid political friction and chronic insecurity.
But with power changing hands so frequently, many question whether leadership swaps alone can bring lasting peace to a region where the governor’s chair, as many observers now quip, “rarely gets warm.”
