President Kiir revokes Gen. Akol Koor’s gubernatorial appointment

President Kiir revokes Gen. Akol Koor’s gubernatorial appointment
General Akol Koor Kuc. [Photo: Courtesy]

The sudden revocation of Gen. Akol’s appointment comes just a week after President Kiir had named him governor of Warrap State, and a successor announced for ISB

By Emmanuel Mandella and Ben Oduor

In a dramatic turn of events, South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Wednesday evening, revoked the gubernatorial appointment of General Akol Koor Kuc, the former head of the National Security Service (NSS), who set to assume the position of governor of Warrap State. The decision comes just days after Akol was dismissed from his post while abroad, and appointed governor of Warrap State through a presidential decree.

Gen. Akol, who served as the influential Director General of the NSS’s Internal Security Bureau since the country’s independence in 2011, returned to Juba earlier Wednesday, October 9, 2024 on a Flydubai flight from the United Arab Emirates. His arrival at Juba International Airport was met by a large crowd of supporters, chanting slogans of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), but the once-dominant security chief appeared unfazed. Without addressing the crowd, he was moved into a white SUV car, and swiftly left the airport, leaving his supporters, most of who were in celebratory move, in awe.

The sudden revocation of Gen. Akol’s appointment comes just a week after President Kiir had named him governor of Warrap State, a region fraught with inter-communal violence and cattle raids. The appointed, came with mixed reactions, as some felt the former spy chief would bring his years’ experience into taming the wanton insecurities in the state.

The country was abuzz with speculation, as others started circulating word that the new appointee was not ready to assume the position, something the Warrap State Coordination team was quick to discredit as malicious through a published press statement.

In a quick rejoinder, the Coordination office would release another press statement inviting supporters of Gen Akol Koor, all and sundry, to appear at Juba International Airport on Wednesday, at 11am, for a grand reception of the leader back in Juba

The Coordination Office extended an invitation to women, youth leaders, student leaders, chiefs, and various cultural groups from Warrap State residing in Juba, to attend the reception at the airport- the office emphasizing the importance of this event.

The Coordination Office would mount a massive preparation, arranging transportation to facilitate attendees; identifying various places for pickups, to ensure citizens from different areas joined the procession.

And like directed, they appeared, in a mammoth, at the airport. When Gen. Akol disembarked from the Fly Dubai plane, he moved into a white SUV car, and off it drove. No speeches, and pleasantries, leaving an unsuspecting crowd at the airport.

In an evening presidential decree announced at the state broadcast SSBC on Wednesday evening, President Kiir announced the appointment of Lt. Gen. Francis Marial Abur, a former assistant Inspector General of Police for operations, as new governor for Warrap, a replacement for Gen. Akol.

Gen. Akol, who served as the influential Director General of the NSS’s Internal Security Bureau since the country’s independence in 2011, returned to Juba earlier Wednesday.

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