Kiir dismisses top security officials, ministers after rebel advance in Jonglei

JUBA — South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday dismissed senior security officials, replaced several cabinet ministers and removed a state governor, naming their successors in a series of decrees read out on state television, as opposition forces advanced in Jonglei State and fighting intensified elsewhere in the country.

The late-night changes, announced by the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), included a reshuffle of the intelligence service, the interior ministry and several civilian portfolios, as well as a change in the leadership of Lakes State.

In the security sector, Kiir removed Gen. Thoi Chany as director-general of the General Intelligence Bureau (GIB), the external intelligence wing of the National Security Service (NSS) and promoted Maj. Gen. Abraham K. Majok to the rank of general, appointing him as the new GIB director-general.

Kiir also dismissed Angelina Jany Teny as minister of interior and appointed Aleu Ayieny Aleu as her replacement. Aleu previously served as interior minister between 2013 and 2016 and later as governor of the restive Warrap State.

Teny is a senior opposition figure and the wife of detained First Vice President Riek Machar. Under the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, the defence ministry was allocated to Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), while the interior ministry was also reserved for the opposition.

In March 2023, Kiir switched the portfolios, removing the defence ministry from the SPLA-IO and instead assigning the interior ministry to the opposition, a move the SPLA-IO opposed at the time. He subsequently appointed Teny as interior minister.

In the labour ministry, Kiir dismissed James Hoth Mai and appointed Anthony Lino Makana as the new minister of labour. Makana previously served as speaker of South Sudan’s transitional parliament.

At the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development, Dak Duop Bichiok was removed and replaced by Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth Lol is a key supporter of President Kiir and has previously served as minister of petroleum.

Kiir also dismissed Nadia Arop Dudi as minister of culture, museums and national heritage and appointed Sarah Nyanath Elijah as her successor. Elijah a well-known civil society activist who was opposite to the president’s administration.

At the state level, Kiir removed Rin Tueny Mabor as governor of Lakes State and appointed Madhang Majok Meen as the new governor.

The reshuffle comes as opposition forces advance in Jonglei State, where SPLA-IO fighters last week captured Pajut, a strategic town in Duk County along a key route linking northern Jonglei to the state capital Bor.

The capture of Pajut has raised fears of further rebel movement toward Bor and prompted the government to deploy additional forces to the area.

Fighting has also raged in parts of Unity, Upper Nile, and Eastern Equatoria states in recent weeks, adding to concern among regional and international observers that South Sudan could slide back into wider conflict.

South Sudan has struggled to fully implement the 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war which killed an estimated 400,000 people. Key provisions, including the unification and deployment of forces and constitutional reforms, remain incomplete, while relations between the peace partners have deteriorated sharply since Machar’s detention.

The country’s entire security situation has been deteriorating since an attack by the White Army, an ethnic Nuer militia linked to the SPLA-IO, on a government garrison in Nasir County of Upper State resulted in  the killing of over 250 government soldiers including a senior army general.

The fighting was followed by the widespread arrest and detention in Juba of several opposition figures, including Machar, who is now facing what the SPLA-IO has described as a “sham trial” by a “kangaroo court.”

The government did not explicitly link the dismissals and appointments to the latest military developments, but the changes come at a time of heightened political tension and worsening security conditions across several regions of the country.