In a political shake-up indicative of the continuing instability in South Sudan, President Salva Kiir has removed the country’s Chief of Defence Forces, Dau Aturjong, and replaced him with his predecessor, General Paul Nang Majok, just three months after previously demoting him from the same position. The development was announced late on Wednesday by the state television network, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC). No justification for the removal of the country’s top leadership was stated.
This latest shuffle at the top of South Sudan’s military leadership is part of a broader pattern of repeated dismissals and appointments at senior levels within the government and army during President Kiir’s rule. The ongoing reshuffles, analysts say, are a part of an attempt by Kiir to balance delicately between rival groups, reinforce loyalty in the security establishment, and concentrate power in a country still trying to move beyond post-conflict vulnerability.
Leadership of a Fragile State
President Kiir, 74, has been governing South Sudan since it achieved independence from Sudan in 2011. The country is one of the poorest and most conflict-ridden countries in the world, as ethnic violence, economic struggle, and political instability persist. Kiir has overseen a transitional government since 2020 formed following a peace agreement in 2018 to bring an end to the fatal civil war that erupted in 2013.
However, scheduled national polls have continuously been postponed, and the latest postponement has created the risk of democratic backtracking. Kiir has also experienced growing tensions with his long-time political foe, First Vice President Riek Machar, a high-ranking opposition politician and former rebel chief.
Machar was placed under house arrest by the government in March on suspicion of backing armed militias—specifically a group from his Nuer ethnic group—which briefly took over military bases in the northeast earlier this year. The government later brought charges of treason, murder, and crimes against humanity against Machar. He has dismissed all the charges as politically motivated.
A Power Struggle and Ethnic Tensions
The serial replacement of the nation’s highest-ranking military leaders is symptomatic of more profound tensions at the power bases of South Sudan’s leadership, which are prone to splitting along ethnic lines—primarily between Kiir’s Dinka and Machar’s Nuer. Majok’s re-emergence, barely three months after his unceremonious dismissal in July, remains a reminder of the tenuous and often volatile nature of South Sudan’s political and military elite.
Aturjong, who had been recently redeployed as a technical adviser to the Ministry of Defence, had replaced Majok during a period of bloody clashes and new fighting. The government’s internal weakness coupled with unresolved ethnic grievances erodes the fragile peace agreement, analysts believe.
Warning signals from the International Community
The global human rights community and the United Nations have consistently blamed South Sudan’s government for going back on its word to provide peace, governance reform, as well as accountability. In the past month alone, a UN investigation blamed top leaders of “systematic looting” of the country’s oil money and public funds, accumulating their own fortunes while the broader segment of citizens suffer from famine, displacement, and poor basic services.
The global community has also been worried about the country’s worsening political environment and more frequent use of legal and military mechanisms in silencing opposition voices. The trial of Machar has also stretched the fragile unity government to its limits, fuelling concerns of a return to mass violence.
A Nation at a Crossroads
As South Sudan approaches what should be a turning point toward democratic rule, the continued reorganization of its military top brass and stifling of political challengers raise a menacing picture. While Kiir has had vice-like control over state machinery, transparency, accountability, and political participation have continually undermined peace efforts.
Unless reform is undertaken in the short term and a path to credible elections is re-opened, South Sudan may slide back into the instability and bloodshed that has marked its short history as a state.
