Majok was appointed on December 10, 2024, succeeding General Santino Deng Wol. His appointment was announced by Kiir, who urged him to transform the SSPDF into a professional, conventional army focused on protecting South Sudan’s territorial integrity while avoiding political involvement and corrupt practices, such as land grabbing.
Majok, previously the Chief of Military Operations, assumed the role during a ceremony at the SSPDF headquarters in Bilpam, Juba, on December 12, 2024. He pledged to reorganise and modernise the military, prioritise soldiers’ welfare, and equip them with modern technology.
But nearly a year since his appointment, very little has changed. Insecurity remains rife, conscription of children into the army and sending them to the frontline in the pretext of a gang crackdown, and unification of forces remains elusive.
Majok also struggled to professionalise the SSPDF, with issues like unpaid salaries, illegal checkpoints, and reported abuses, as noted by the United Nations.
Those challenges are now passed on to his successor, Aturjong, a seasoned military figure with a complex history in South Sudan’s armed forces.
He joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in 1983, training in Ethiopia and rising to major general after fighting in the Second Sudanese Civil War.
In 2010, he unsuccessfully ran for governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal against Paul Malong Awan, alleging election rigging.
Aturjong defected to Riek Machar’s SPLM/A-IO in 2014, citing the “hijacking” of the SPLM after John Garang’s 2005 death, but rejoined the government in July 2016 after the Juba clashes, later commanding the SPLA’s Third Infantry Division in Bahr el Ghazal by December 2017.
His history of shifting allegiances and rivalry with Malong could complicate his leadership now that he has been appointed the CDF, particularly in unifying factions within the SSPDF.
In a separate Republican Decree, Kiir reappointed Gola Boyoi Gola as the Chief Administrator of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, replacing Peter Guzulu.
Mr Boyoi now serves a second term as Chief Administrator of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) after first assuming the role on April 16, 2024, replacing Lokoli Ame Bullen. He was dismissed on 15th January 2025, before being reappointed on July 7, 2025.
