Opposition says Kiir’s security shake-up signals ‘desperation’ and ‘confusion’

JUBA — South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) has dismissed President Salva Kiir’s latest security reshuffle as a sign of “desperation” and “confusion,” describing the moves as the “last kick of a dying horse.”

In a statement following today’s presidential decrees, SPLM-IO spokesman Pal Mai Deng ridiculed the decrees, which saw the dismissal of the country’s interior minister and external intelligence chief, arguing they reflect chaos within an administration facing significant battlefield setbacks.

“Kiir’s reshuffle of government officials today is a clear sign of desperation and a last kick of the dying horse amid his government’s crumble,” Deng said. “Hopelessness and confusion of not knowing what needs to be done to save the situation has shifted in.”

The reaction follows Kiir’s late-night dismissal of Interior Minister Angelina Teny, a senior SPLM-IO figure and wife of detained First Vice President Riek Machar.

Kiir also removed Gen. Thoi Chany from the leadership of the General Intelligence Bureau (GIB), the external arm of the National Security Service, replacing him with Maj. Gen. Abraham K. Majok.

The shake-up comes as opposition forces make strategic gains in Jonglei State, where they recently captured the town of Pajut. Deng claimed that government forces are in disarray, alleging that morale has collapsed and troops are deserting their positions.

“As his unfit, unpaid, untrained and undisciplined soldiers… are abandoning the battlefields, hopelessness has shifted in,” Deng stated.

He further alleged that the government is relying on “forcefully conscripted street jobless children” and “pregnant and lactating mothers” to fill its ranks.

Deng drew a grim historical parallel, comparing the current atmosphere in Juba to the final days of Nazi Germany.

“I once had time to look into the Atlantic war in greater depth… and watched YouTube of how Adolf Hitler fell until his last day in his bunker,” Deng said. “I see the trend in South Sudan is nearly taking the same direction.”

The government has not publicly responded to the opposition’s characterization of the reshuffle.

However, the changes in the security sector—which also included the appointment of hardline loyalists such as Aleu Ayieny Aleu to the interior ministry—suggest Juba is hardening its posture as fighting intensifies in Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile states.

Tensions between the peace partners have reached a breaking point since the detention of Machar in March 2025.

The opposition has described his ongoing trial as a “sham,” and the removal of his wife from the interior ministry is widely viewed as the final dismantling of the 2018 power-sharing agreement.