In South Sudan, President Salva Kiir fired several high-ranking officials on Monday, December 9. The reasons for these changes are not yet known. But they follow the dismissal of other figures of South Sudanese power at the beginning of October, and particularly that of the head of Intelligence, General Akol Koor Kuc, in office since independence in 2011.
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Some media speak of an ongoing “purge” in the state apparatus in South Sudan. Among those who have been dismissed from their positions, we find Santino Deng Wol, the head of the South Sudanese army since 2021, and the police chief, Atem Marol Biar, as well as the governor of the Central Bank, James Alic Garang.
While the exact circumstances of battles of November 21 have not been established, rumors are circulating: Akol Koor Kuc, the intelligence chief dismissed on October 2, is he at the heart of a plot against the head of state? Should he have been arrested that day? If these questions are currently unanswered, the South Sudanese president Salva Kiir seems to doubt the loyalty of certain high-ranking officers.
Analyst Daniel Akech Thiong, of the International Crisis Group, observes “a continuous restructuring of the security sector for two months”. According to the researcher this is due to the financial crisis affecting South Sudan since the cessation of oil exports due to the war in Sudan. But also by power struggles which are intensifying even within the presidential circle.
Daniel Akech Thiong believes that the incident at the Akol Koor Kuc residence could have degenerated, because, he says, “in all previous episodes of armed clashes in Juba, there has always been some kind of triggering accident” .
The South Sudanese army has formed a commission of inquiry to establish what really happened on November 21. Its work is in progress.
And the inauguration of the new head of the South Sudanese army, General Paul Nang Majok, is scheduled for this Thursday, December 12 in Juba.
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