JUBA, October 9: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has removed the country’s Chief of Defence Forces and reinstated his predecessor, marking yet another abrupt shift in the top military ranks, state-run television announced on Wednesday.
The move underscores continuing instability within South Sudan’s political and military establishment, as the 74-year-old president grapples with ongoing armed conflict and mounting speculation about his succession.
According to the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), Kiir has reappointed General Paul Nang Majok as the new Chief of Defence Forces, replacing General Dau Aturjong, who has been reassigned as a technical adviser at the Ministry of Defence. No official reason was provided for the change.
Majok’s reinstatement comes just three months after Kiir dismissed him without explanation in July, appointing Aturjong in his place. That reshuffle followed a series of clashes in the country’s northeast, where government troops were briefly overrun by a militia associated with First Vice President Riek Machar’s Nuer ethnic group.
Machar, who served as Kiir’s chief rival during the country’s devastating 2013–2018 civil war, was placed under house arrest in March and formally charged last month with treason, murder, and crimes against humanity. He has denied all charges.
His detention has reignited fears of renewed conflict, with his supporters accusing Kiir’s administration of violating the 2018 peace and power-sharing agreement that ended the civil war.
Observers say Kiir’s frequent government reshuffles—particularly in the defence and security sectors—reflect efforts to consolidate control and balance competing political and ethnic interests within the fragile state.
The latest changes come amid a worsening economic and humanitarian crisis in the oil-rich yet impoverished nation. In September, United Nations investigators accused South Sudan’s political and military elites of “systematic looting” of national resources for personal enrichment, warning that corruption and factionalism threaten to derail the country’s already fragile peace process.
Kiir has ruled South Sudan since its independence from Sudan in 2011. Elections initially scheduled for 2023 have been postponed twice, leaving the world’s youngest nation in a prolonged state of political uncertainty.
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