The managing director of the state oil firm, Nilepet, has been fired barely six months after his appointment.

The President Salva Kiir dismissed Mr Cleto in a decree read on the state television last evening.

The office of the president says Mr Cleto was sacked due to ‘lack of experience’ to run the government’s fuel supplying company.

The former undersecretary for petroleum in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, Machar Achiek, has been appointed to replace Mr Cleto.

“The new Machar Achiek has connections because he has been working in the oil sector even in the Sudan. So he knows who to go, and talk to,” said Ateny Wek, presidential press secretary.

Before becoming the managing director of Nilepet, Mr Cleto worked as the office manager in the office of the SPLM chairman.