Did President Kiir Reshuffle Army To Avoid Coup? [March 8th, 2013. Juba, South Sudan]
In what appears as a move to reorganize his military and transform it from a rebel fighting force to a modern army South Sudanese President Salva Kiir recently reshuffled the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) top command. So far this is the official line that Juba wants the world to believe. In the far reaching changes affected through a Presidential Republican Decree number 25 for the year 2013, President Kiir, fired 117 top army commanders including deputies to the Chief of General Staff and relieved 23 other senior officers. Most of those sent home in the mid-February military purge were Brigadier Generals and 10 Lieutenant Generals. To many observers the major command changes in the army are of great interest given the prevailing volatile situation with the neighbouring Sudan. In the new changes President Kiir promoted 10 new officers to the rank of lieutenant-generals and several of them were dispatched to the three main border hot-zones bordering with Sudan. Alongside these 10 lieutenant Generals Kiir appointed six new Deputy Chief of General Staff (DCGS) to deputise General James Hoth Mai who is the current CGS. In sacking these top commanders President Kiir used this rare and unprecedented opportunity to rein in cattle rustling and sectional fighting in Lakes State when he also fired the democratically elected governor Chol Tong Mayay. President Kiir used a clause in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 to sack Governor Mayay. The clause notes that the president can sack an elected official of any of South Sudan’s 10 states if the states are in situations which threaten national security. Chol’s sacking was expected as he failed to calm communal fighting in Lakes State which had claimed 49 lives in two days of fighting and a likelihood of the violence spreading to Lakes capital of Rumbek were real. Governor Chol was not the only civilian leader affected. Governors of the Eastern Equatoria, Unity, Western Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile states namely Louis Lobong Lojore, Taban Deng Gai, Rizik Hassan Zachariah and Simon Kun Puoc respectively were removed from active military files. These changes by Kiir are seen in the wider context of a fragile nation against hostile neighbours. In January 2013 Kiir had fired another batch of 35 senior military officers. Indeed these changes being effected this year are the biggest military shake-ups to be experienced in Juba, since the July 2011 independence. Of significance to note is the caliber of the generals who have been sent home. Almost all of them were rebel commanders who served SPLA in the long bush war with Khartoum. Military Transformation and Coup Plots It is significant to note that right from the time South Sudan and the Sudan signed the 2005 Comprehensive peace Agreement (CPA) the two nations were obligated to begin an intensive disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process. President Kiir’s latest moves within SPLA appear to add more impetus to DDR but also have some semblance of reforming the SPLA from a rebel force into a modern professional army. Though yet to be confirmed the latest military changes point to a complete overhaul of the SPLA with an aim of remodeling it into a rebranded South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) and also rid it of disloyal soldiers. The changes in the army are now said to be only a tip of the iceberg of major reforms that President Kiir is planning for the entire security services in Africa’s youngest nation. Indeed President Kiir’s changes were expected. Apparently security watchers had long expected the changes in SPLA to remove the tag of guerrilla to one that is professionalized. “The president was not acting outside the law. He was exercising the powers conferred upon him by the transitional constitution. The changes were meant to basically promote growth in the system.” Barnaba Marial Benjamin, South Sudan’s minister information and broadcasting service says. According to Benjamin the president was acting within the law and in line with public expectations. “It means giving responsibilities of managing the affairs of this country to the fresh group, people with new ideas which needs to be tried since we are living in the fast moving and developing world.” But away from the “military transformation talk” insiders believe that President Kiir acted swiftly by dismissing the generals is because they were said to be planning to topple his administration. Talk of coup plots have pervaded in Juba for some time now. In Mid-2012 high ranking military generals with strong allegiance to former SPLA leader John Garang, derisively referred to as “Garang Boys” in Juba were said to have plotted to oust President Salva. At the time the deputy commander of SPLA’s Military Intelligence Major General Mac Paul alongside 15 other military officers is said to have been arrested and detained at the Yei Military Prison. It took a week after these reports to emerge for President Kiir to publicly denounce the coup plotters. While on an official trip to Uganda recently President Kiir survived another coup plot which was foiled by Dr. Majak Agoot who is the deputy minister of defence and veterans affairs. Dr. Agoot was in charge of the country at the time as President Kiir had been accompanied by both John Kong Nyuon minister of defence, and Gen Mai while Riak Machar the Vice President was in the US. The main coup plotter this time around was said to be Maj. General Simon Gatwec Dual who was the director of production at the expansive SPLA Bilpam Military Complex. Gen Dual is believed to be an ally of the rebel group being led by David Yauyau in Jonglei state. The changes in the military which were seen as a purge on wayward generals to scatter the coup plotters have been dismissed by Marial. “The president still trusts the generals. He has hope in them and they should show good examples in accepting the changes.” Marial says. “I know the president may be planning to re-]assign some of them. Others have actually been assigned. Those who have requested to go for studies will be facilitated so that they can go and get the knowledge they might need to help them while trying to settle and fit into the society.” To date there have been four coup attempts all linked to “Garang’s Boys” which have been thwarted by President Kiir’s loyalists led by the CGS General Mai. By bringing in and promoting young soldiers trained overseas in countries like China, South Africa, Kenya, US, UK and Uganda President Kiir is transforming his army and delinking it from civilian authority. How successful he will be only time can tell. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
