Opinion: Gen. Akol Koor Kuc is Not Interested in Politics; He is Simply Doing His Work

By James Makoi Deng,

These sympathizers who are currently in government as well as those who were dismissed from the government by the President of the Republic for colluding and plotting with Gen. Paul Malong Awan to overthrow the duly elected President of the Republic of South Sudan, Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit have now ganged up against Gen. Akol Koor Kuc. Their intention is very clear; to get rid of Gen. Akol Koor and final their intention of overthrowing Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit. To them, Gen. Akol Koor is the main obstacle to their evil plans of ascending to the Presidency through bloody coup where lives of innocent South Sudanese could be lost.

To do this, they have launched a sustained media campaign by creating fake social media pages such as “Sixty 4 Tribes Press”, “Africans Press” and “Juba Daily News” among others fake news channels. Using these platforms they have fabricated and concocted stories after stories aimed at creating the impression that the President of Republic, Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit has fallen out with his Director General of Internal Security Bureau and that he is about to dismiss him from his position. For example, on 7th August 2020, Juba Daily News reported that Gen. Akol Koor had said that, “I am not Paul Malong and that he would not go down without a fight”. This according to this fake news website, was in apparent response to rumours that President Salva Kiir Mayardit was planning to relieve Gen. Akol Koor from his position. This statement is nothing but a desperate smear campaign against Gen. Akol Koor by sympathizers and supporters of Gen. Paul Malong Awan who is so desperate to come back to Juba. Gen. Paul Malong believes that Gen. Akol Koor is an impediment to his several attempts to reconcile with President Salva Kiir which will ensure that he returns to Juba. Once Gen. Paul Malong is back to Juba, he will then take his revenge against President Salva Kiir Mayardit for having dismissed him and placed him under house arrest. 

Second part of strategy to get rid of Gen. Akol Koor is to implement state capture which essentially occurs when ruling elite and powerful businessmen manipulate policy formulation and influence affairs of the state for their own selfish interest. This is not the first time this group has deployed this strategy. They tried when Gen. Paul Malong Awan was the Chief of General Staff of SPLA. Using the influence wielded by Gen. Paul Malong, these individuals were able to appoint key allies in very influential and sensitive government positions. With their newfound power and influence, these individuals looted the coffers of the government of South Sudan to the last cent. It was through the intervention of Gen. Akol Koor that this state capture that was going to culminate in the coup against Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit hence allowing Gen. Paul Malong Awan to become the President of the Republic of South Sudan was put to an end. This plan failed leading to the dismissal of Gen. Paul Malong Awan as the Chief of General Staff of SPLA.

According to well-placed sources, the same sympathizers and supporters of Gen. Paul Malong have renewed this state capture strategy by recruiting one of the recently appointed high-ranking Ministers in the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity and one of the current longest serving Intelligence General to mislead the President Salva Kiir Mayardit that “Gen. Akol Koor is plotting a coup to topple President Salva Kiir Mayardit”. This is to mislead President Salva Kiir Mayardit to dismiss his most loyal supporter Gen. Akol Koor from his position. This group strongly believes that Gen. Akol Koor will scuttle their ultimate plans of working within to topple President Salva Kiir Mayardit and put in power this high-ranking Minister as the President of the Republic of South Sudan. It is to be recalled that this particular Minister is known to have publicly stated that he doesn’t believe in the leadership of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. He went as far as describing President Salva Kiir Mayardit as “stupid drunkard who has nothing to offer the people of South Sudan”. He further confirmed his detest and condescending attitude towards President Salva Kiir Mayardit when he resigned from his government in 2006 and fled to the United Kingdom. This Minister has never let go his ambition to contest against President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar for the Chairmanship of SPLM in 2008. This Minister was responsible for a rift that occurred between the former Chairman of SPLM, Dr. John Garang De Mabior and his then Deputy Salva Kiir Mayardit in 2004 prior to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement when this Minister was rumoured as replacement to Salva Kiir Mayardit who the Deputy Chairman of SPLM at the time.

Loyalty to President Salva Kiir Mayardit

Having said this, it is true that Gen. Akol Koor Kuc is being fiercely fought for his loyalty to the duly elected President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit by individuals who given a chance will not hesitate to topple President Salva Kiir Mayardit in a broad day light. Gen. Akol Koor has always acknowledged the trust President Salva Kiir bestowed by appointing him as the first Director General of General of Internal Security Bureau (ISB) even though there were other senior, abled and equally qualified officers who would have been appointed to this post. Since Gen. Akol Koor was appointed, he has never betrayed this trust and he has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that he is loyal to President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the people of South Sudan being represented by President Salva Kiir Mayardit. 

Selflessness and Incorruptible

Gen. Akol Koor has given his life to the service of this country. He played a very instrumental role in the success of the Revitalized Peace Agreement. He has was assigned by President of the Republic to ensure that other opposition groups who were hesitant to join the peace agreement were brought on board. It is through this initiative the so-called Former Detainees were able to join the peace agreement. 

Professionalism and Commitment to Excellence

Gen. Akol Koor is smart, tenacious and dedicated to excellence. He has the right kind of intelligence for the job. He is also well-studied with an incisive mind. Under his leadership as Director General, the Internal Security Bureau has been transformed into one of the most disciplined organized forces in South Sudan. The Internal Security Bureau is one of the few organized forces that is truly representative of the all the 64 tribes of the Republic of South Sudan with the capability to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of South Sudan both from enemies within and outside South Sudan. 

Conclusion

Gen. Akol Koor is a good leader with vision, strategy and ability to inspire others. He is someone who gets things done come hell or high water. His decisiveness – ability to make difficult decisions swiftly and well and act on them unlike other leaders who are wavering, procrastinating and avoid reality is not an easy feat for a man of his age who rose from obscurity and humble background to being the close confidante of the President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E Salva Kiir Mayardit. 

Since his appointment as Director General of Internal Security Bureau in August 2011, Gen. Akol Koor Kuc has ensured that “vultures” who have been hovering around the seat of President Salva Kiir Mayardit with the intention of overthrowing him are dealt with. It is natural for these individuals whose ambitions and egoes were bruised to fight back. And this is what exactly what they are doing. 

These individuals who have made their way back to key government positions are existential threat to President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Their intention is to get rid of loyal and patriotic individuals around the President like Gen. Akol Koor Kuc so as to give them an opportunity to implement their evil intentions of overthrowing President Salva Kiir.

If recent events in Sudan are anything to go by then President Salva Kiir Mayardit should know that President Omar Bashir was betrayed by people he once trusted. These individuals include the likes of Gen. Paul Malong Awan and other senior ministers in his government who once made their intentions clear that they want to take over the Presidency by any means. 

For Gen. Akol Koor, he is simply doing his work as Director General of Internal Security Bureau. He has demonstrated his loyalty to President Salva Kiir Mayardit beyond any reasonable doubt.

James Makoi Deng is an Author and Commentator on Current Social, Economic and Political issues in South Sudan. He can be reached at j.makoi-ssd@gmail.com. 

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