South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has reshuffled the
army’s command, firing 11 top army officers, including deputies to the
Chief of the General Staff, and 23 more senior commanders.
Mr Kiir has also fired Lakes State governor Chol
Tong Mayay, a democratically elected governor in a state engulfed in
bitter cattle raiding and deadly sectional fighting.
In sacking the governor, the president invoked the
presidential powers enshrined in the Transitional Constitution of South
Sudan 2011, which allows the president to sack an elected governor if
that state is engulfed in a major crisis that threatens national
security.
Mr Chol’s sacking comes days after sectional
fighting between two feuding communities in the state killed more than
49 people in two consecutive days of armed confrontation that threatened
to spill over to the state capital, Rumbek, last week.
The reshuffle in the army also saw 10 senior
officers promoted to the rank of lieutenant-generals, some of whom were
immediately deployed in three sectors bordering neighbouring Sudan.
Mr Kiir also appointed six new deputies to the Chief of General Staff James Hoth Mai.
The leader made the sweeping changes in four separate decrees broadcast on the state radio on Tuesday.
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