Who is the new South Sudan army chief?

May 11, 2020 (SSNN) – South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday replaced the country’s army chief, General Gabriel Jok Riak, with General Johnson Juma Okot who served – until Monday – as Jok’s deputy.

So, who is General Johnson Okot?

General Okot is a South Sudan army general who was born in the country’s Eastern Equatoria state in late 1950s. He attended his primary and secondary education in Uganda, Eastern and central Equatoria between 1966 and 1976.

He attended a missionary vocational training in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el-Ghazal state capital, Wau, which was the capital of then Bahr el-Ghazal District under the then British colonial Sudan.

Following the Addis Ababa peace agreement in 1972, Akot was appointed as the minister of public service, and then minister of information in the autonomous Southern Sudan government led by Joseph Lagu until the formation of the SPLA in 1984.

Towards the end of 1984, Okot joined the new rebel movement, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/SPLA) under late John Garang. He graduated with the rank of Second Lieutenant following training at Itang in Ethiopia at the end of 1987.

He was tasked by Garang as a platoon commander, brigade commander and then chief of staff for Eastern Equatoria command of the SPLM/SPLA before he was transferred to work under General Daniel Awet Akot in the Bahr el-Ghazal Zonal command a few months later.

After his recall from Bahr el-Ghazal, Okot was appointed as county commissioner for Magwi County in his home state of Eastern Equatoria before being appointed as deputy governor of the Greater Equatoria.

Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Kenyan in 2005, he was among leading SPLM/SPLA key figures that were sent to Juba by John Garang as an advance team.

He would later serve as the first Director General for Logistics of the SPLA at the now army headquarters in Bilpam. He stayed in the position for around two years. At the end of 2007, he was appointed by President Salva Kiir as the director in the office of the commander in chief.

He was appointed by President Kiir in 2010 as the caretaker governor of Eastern Equatoria state. He would serve at different positions in the army, more importantly deputy chief of defense forces, until his appointment to replace General Gabriel Jok Riak on Monday.

Before Kiir could rename the SPLA to become the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) in 2018, Okot was serving as the deputy commander of the SPLA ground forces.

Okot is one of a few sophisticated South Sudanese army commanders. He holds Master of Arts from the Cambridge University in the UK, Master’s Degree in Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Juba. He is currently doing his PhD in security sector reforms at the University of Juba.