By Philip Buda Lado
President Salva Kiir Mayardit has appointed Chol Thon Balok as the minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs, filling the vacant embattled Defense docket that became a centre of contention between the SPLM-IG and SPLM-IO after the sacking of Angelina Teny.
SPLM-IO also protested President Kiir’s decision of swapping the defence ministry with that of the Interior a matter that triggered a crisis meeting between Kiir and Machar which ended in a stalemate.
Mr Balok who was earlier the deputy minister of defence got relieved from his assistant post before being appointed now as the minister of defence. However, it should be noted that the Ministry of Interior and of Foreign Affairs still remain vacant to date.
The relieve and appointment was announced in a Presidential Decree read over the State-run SSBC Radio and TV on Wednesday evening, 29-03-2023.