The Minister for Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro on Monday said the recent cabinet changes made by President Salva Kiir were motivated by the need to speed up graduation and redeployment of the unified forces.
“We wanted to take full responsibility of the ministry of defense and veterans affairs in order to be able to complete the unification and redeployment of the unified forces,” Lomuro told journalists on the sidelines of the launch of health coordination platform at Radisson Blu Hotel in Juba.
On March 3rd, President Kiir surprised the main-opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in opposition (SPLM-IO) by sacking Angelina Teny, the minister of defense and veterans affairs. In addition, Kiir also sacked Mahmoud Solomon Agok member of his SPLM-In Government party from the interior ministry.
In a separate decree, the president swapped the two ministries in contravention of the 2018 peace deal which gives the defense ministry to SPLM-IO and interior ministry to SPLM-IG respectively.
“As commander -in -chief he (Kiir) realizes that the time scale for implementation of the roadmap is very tight, and yet the ministry of defense is one of the ministries that are fundamental to provide the ground for the establishment of professional security sector,” Lomuro said.
“He wants to take charge so that when he gives orders no one will stop doing what he said,” he added.
Lomuro said that last week’s meeting between President Salva Kiir and the First Vice President Riek Machar was held in the context of the implementation of the agreement.
“There is nothing for anybody from anywhere to come and help us, he (Kiir) wants to take charge so that the process is complete before we write the constitution, before we move towards registration of political parties, so that parties begin to campaign that is the reason, there is nothing cynical about it,” he disclosed.
