JUBA—President Kiir named SPLM member James Altaib as Western Equatoria governor in a decree on Thursday, replacing Gen. Alfred Futuyo, who he sacked in February 2025.
The administrative change announced on SSBC will significantly shift the power balance in SPLM’s favor and effectively bring the state under its rule.
Following his removal in February, Futuyo and his party members fled insecurity in the state capital, Yambio, prompting his deputy, Daniel Badagbu, to act in his position.
The opposition movement that signed the 2018 peace deal, which included a power-sharing agreement with other parties, is in crisis following the March 2025 detention of its chairman, Dr. Riek Machar, and a subsequent split of its members into two factions.
The deal allocates three gubernatorial positions to SPLM-IO in Upper Nile, Western Equatoria, and Western Bahr el Ghazal. But two of the governor seats have now been replaced with SPLM nominees, amid renewed violence that erupted early this year.