General Futuyo laments ‘too many commanders-in-chief’ in South Sudan

JUBA – The governor of South Sudan’s Western Equatoria state General Alfred has lamented the existence of many armies and commanders in chief saying President Salva Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny need to unify their forces to avoid chaos.

The senior South Sudan government official made the remarks during the opening session of the country’s 5^th Governors’ Forum which was held in Juba on Tuesday and which brought together several senior government officials from the First Vice President to state governors.

According to President Salva Kiir, the forum was mean to discuss post-war issues as well as the full implementation of the revitalized peace agreement and to also try to find solutions for issues that may hamper conduct of national elections set to take place at the end of the transitional period in 2023.

Speaking during the opening session of the forum, General Futuyo said lamented the existence of many commanders in chief in the country asking if there is any country among the world nations that have two armies or two commanders in chief and then urged the parties to unify their armies.

“There are three Commanders-in-Chief in South Sudan, President Kiir for SSPDF, Dr Machar for SPLA-IO, and Abdelbagi for SSOA. Where on earth will you find this?” the Western Equatoria state governor wondered.

“Let’s unify our forces so that we stabilize the country. If we can’t organize ourselves, [then] we will not organize the country.”