South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has appointed a new defence minister replacing Angelina Teny, who he sacked early last month.
The appointment of Gen Chol Thon Balok was announced in a presidential decree read on the national broadcaster, the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), on Wednesday night.
Gen Thon is from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) of President Salva Kiir. Prior to his appointment, he served as deputy defence minister under Ms Teny.
Ms Teny is from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) of First Vice-President, Riek Machar.
Aside from firing Ms Teny, Mr Kiir also swapped the ministries of defence and interior, moving defence roles to his party and the interior docket to the opposition.
The SPLM-IO, termed the presidential decrees “unilateral” and “a violation” of the revitalised peace agreement and demanded that Ms Teny be reinstated to her position.
Mr Kiir and Mr Machar met a few weeks later to discuss the dismissal of Ms Teny, who was the country’s first female defence minister.
They however failed to reach a solution, promising to meet at a later date but have not done so since then.
The SPLM-IO has not officially commented on the latest appointment.
