Kiir reportedly blamed JCE for economic crisis during SPLM Political Bureau meeting

JUBA – South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, reportedly blamed, during a meeting of the SPLM Political Bureau Wednesday, the Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) for the ongoing crisis in the world’s youngest country.

According to a senior government official, Kiir convened a meeting of the SPLM PB following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing economic crisis at the party level.

In the meeting attended by many including ex-defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and deputy chair, James Wani Igga, Kiir said most of senior government officials have been taking advices from the JCE leading the country where it is at the moment.

“Some people are saying that my policies have destroyed the country. This is not true,” Kiir reportedly said. “A lot of people who are blaming me are the very people who took advices from the group [JCE] because they don’t implement the policies passed at the council of ministers.”

The comments by the president came hours after an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday in Juba in which he blamed information minister Michael Makuei Lueth for disclosing change of currency, something the cabinet did not approve during a cabinet meeting last week.

The announcement by the information minister, potentially to force hoarders take money to banks, is said to have resulted into this week’s sharp rise in dollar price as hoarders scramble to change currency fearing change of currency.

On Wednesday, $1 was traded at the rate of SSP 830, before dramatically dropping to SSP 450 yesterday following the cabinet meeting.

South Sudan is in a economic crisis imposed by coronavirus pandemic, global fall of oil prices and corruption. The central bank had announced in August that it had ran out of its foreign exchange reserve and could not control the market because the government owes almost $100 million to the local banks.