JUBA – President Salva Kiir made several leadership changes on Monday, including relieving Deng Alor Kuol as Minister of East African Affairs, and appointing former Upper Nile governor Lt. Gen. James Koang Chuol as Deputy Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs.
Alor, a veteran political figure, was appointed as EAC Minister in July 2020. In another decree, Kiir relieved the ministry’s undersecretary Beny Gideon and appointed him the minister.
The president then assigned his personal bodyguard, Maj. Gen. Valentino as Commander of presidential guard unit known as Tiger Division, after relieving Gen. Phillip Nyon of his duties. Gen Nyon has also been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.
Meanwhile, former Upper Nile governor Lt. Gen. James Koang Chuol was named deputy defense minister – a position that was long thought to be in the SPLM/A-IO docket.
Koang was relieved as governor on October 3 and replaced with the state parliament speaker, Jacob Dollar Ruot.