JUBA – The Office of the President has expressed regret after it emerged that a deceased person was mistakenly appointed to a key national peace body, in what officials described as an “unfortunate administrative oversight.”
Presidential Press Secretary David Amour Majur clarified on Sunday the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Mr. Steward Sorobo Budia as a member of the Leadership Body of the Parties Signatory to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
Amour said Mr. Budia had been nominated by stakeholders to the R-ARCSS dialogue forum through a Republican Order dated January 30, 2026. However, it later became clear that Mr. Budia was already deceased at the time of his appointment.
“The Office of the President has learned with regret of the signatories of the R-ARCSS that Mr. Steward Sorobo Budia, whose name was submitted for inclusion as a member, is deceased,” he said in a statement.
The presidency said the error occurred because it relied entirely on the list of names submitted by stakeholders during the formal consultative process, without conducting independent verification of the nominees’ current status.
“It is now evident that a thorough verification was not done by one of the stakeholders, resulting in this unfortunate administrative oversight,” the statement added.
The Office of the President said it is now taking steps to rectify the mistake and is awaiting a formal submission of a replacement name from the relevant stakeholder in order to amend the Republican Order.
President Kiir’s office also extended condolences to the family of the late Mr. Budia and promised to strengthen verification procedures in the future.
“Moving forward, the Office will implement more stringent verification protocols to ensure that all stakeholder submissions meet the highest standards of accuracy,” the statement said.
