Col. Khalid Ono Loki, head of the military courts in South Sudan’s army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), has resigned. He has accused the army leadership of corruption and ethnic bias.
Khalid is the third top official in a week to resign from South Sudan government.
In a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj, the former head of military courts, described a system of justice that is arbitrary, corrupt and discriminatory against those who are not part of President Kiir’s Dinka tribe.
He said SPLA soldiers were committing crimes without fear of punishment, particularly officers from Dinka tribe.
Khalid also accused the SPLA Chief of General Staff, Paul Malong Awan, of being engaged in “relentless endeavors” to protect his Dinka ethnic group.
“You have indeed brought shame and an unfamiliar ethos to South Sudan that will only lead the country to more calamities,” Khalid wrote on Friday.
“Based on this nutshell of evidences, Mr. Chief, I have provided herein, I can no longer continue with such a corrupt, ethicized and unethical institution,” he said.
Last weekend, Gen. Thomas Cirillo Swaka, who was the Deputy Chief of General Staff for Logistics in the SPLA army, resigned while accusing President Kiir and the army leadership of pursuing a tribal agenda in the country.
On Friday, the minister of labor and public service, Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, resigned and defected to rebels.
Photo: President Kiir, left, accompanied by army chief of staff Paul Malong, right, waves during an independence day ceremony in Juba (Credit: VOA)