South Sudanese president fires army, police, banking figures
South Sudanese president Salva Kirr has fired the country’s military and police chief and central bank governor, according to an announcement on state-owned broadcaster SSBC on December 9th as reported by Reuters.
Kiir’s announcement gave no reasons for the dismissals, and added that Kiir had appointed Paul Nang Majok as the army’s chief of defence forces, replacing General Santino Wol.
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Security sources with inside knowledge military said the changes could have stemmed from disquiet within army ranks, adding that some soldiers had gone a year without being paid wages.
Major General Lul Ruai Koang , who is army spokesperson, didn’t respond when contacted for comment, while information minister and government spokesperson Michael Makuei didn’t respond to a request for comment on the reasons for the changes.
An attempt to arrest the ex-head to intelligence in late November lead to gunfire in capital Juba. Akol Koor Kuc, who had lead the national security service from independence in 2011, was sacked in October and replaced by a close ally of Kiir.
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Kiir also replaced James Alic Garang as the central bank governor, returning Johnny Ohisa Damian to the post after firing him last October, while Abraham Peter Manyuat was named as the new inspector general of police, replacing Atem Marol Biar.
These abrupt changes to government leadership have been common in recent years – in 2020 alone the central bank governor was replaced twice.
Reuters
