PRESIDENT ACCUSED HIS GENERAL OF CORRUPTION AND VOWED TO FIRE THEM ALL
, 25 January 2019; President Kiir on Thursday threatened to sack entire commanders of his tribe army, President Kiir deplored high level of corruption in the army and he directly puts on spotlight his new chief of general staff Riak Jok.
South Sudanese embattling leader expressed his discontentment toward his army while presiding over military ceremony organized by the army on Thursday in its HQ in Bilpham, Juba. Kiir was the chief guest speaker at the occasion, where he awarded six senior former generals including James Wani Igga with medals of breviaries during the war of independence with Khartoum.
While addressing the newly rebranded South Sudan people Defense Force, copied and paste name from UPDF, the President blames his senior commanders and generals for endemic corruption within the army.
“I am not happy with all the military commanders and I have to say it. When I inspected the parades of the army, I observed that the health conditions of the soldiers are very bad. You commanders don’t pay their salaries, you are not feeding them,” said Kiir.
He went onto say," we always bring food to the soldiers but after it is put into storages, it finds its way into the market." he directly blames the generals and commanders for starving the army and making them to become robbers, " It is you who take food to the market, not soldiers.” he added.
The President warned the general should face imminent sacking should they not change and stop stealing the army budget which is earmarked for the well-being of the army
“During the implementation process, I will come back to you, the army commanders. Now the soldiers are scattered and left because they are hungry, you received their salaries and take their money to your homes, so we will talk about it and I will start with Jok, his deputies, and division commanders,” Kiir warned.
The President continues, “If you do good things, you will stay, many South Sudanese are coming, I will lay you off and I will hire new people,” said Mr. Kiir.
Mr. Kiir warned the general against ghost names within the army, and he said this must end.
“They just say there are divisions and you find that the actual number of soldiers in one division is 100, though they demand salaries for 15,000 soldiers in one division, this money actually goes to individuals' pockets,” he said.
Kiir warned for zero tolerance of corruption within the army and vowed to take disciplinary action against any corrupt military official.
SSLN
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