The Office of the President has denied media reports that the president directed the administration of the University of Juba to fire Dr. Luka Biong.

Media reports state that Dr. Biong’s dismissal follows a debate he recently organized at the University, challenging the president’s decision to create more states.

Dr. Biong was a lecturer and also the director of the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University.

Several public figures attended the lecture, including the leader of the SPLM-DC, Dr Lam Akol, the Presidential Advisor on Legal Affairs, Lawrence Korbandy, and the chairman of the Jieng Council of Elders, Justice Ambrose Ring Thiik.

However, the Press Secretary in the Office of the President, Ateny Wek Ateny, told Eye Radio that the story was ‘concocted’.

“There is no any single presidential order, or presidential decree that has asked the University of Juba to sack Luka Biong,” Mr Ateny said.

“This is a concocted story. The president doesn’t go there [University of Juba] to appoint lecturers or to dismiss them.”

Officials from the university are yet to comment on the alleged dismissal of Dr Luka Biong, who is a former government minister.