In an official ceremony, Gen. Akec Tong Aleu was sworn in Thursday to head the Internal Security Bureau of the National Security Service (NSS), which has faced intense criticism for alleged abusive practices.
Gen. Akec moved to the NSS from the Ministry of Defense where he served as the Undersecretary for Veteran Affairs. He previously served as Governor of Warrap State and the defunct Tonj State and in state ministerial posts.
President Salva Kiir on Wednesday night dismissed long-serving Director General of the Internal Security Bureau of the National Security Service (NSS) Gen Akol Koor Kuc. In another decree, he appointed Akec Tong Aleu as the new Director General of the Internal Security Bureau of NSS.
A military officer, Gen. Akec is the second man from the Tonj area of Warrap State to lead the NSS, following Gen. Akol Koor, who has transitioned to the role of Governor of Warrap State, where communal violence is rife.
The shake-up at the feared NSS comes weeks after the transitional government announced that long-delayed general elections, due to take place in December, had been postponed by two years.
Accompanied by his family members and government officials, Gen. Akec was sworn in by Deputy Chief Justice John Gatwech Lul as President Kiir stood nearby.
The South Sudanese president expressed his full support for the new Director General and directed him to meet the challenges ahead with determination.
Gen. Akec will lead a national security agency that has faced intense criticism from human rights groups for cracking down on opposition voices, including activists and journalists, with waves of arbitrary arrests. It denies reports of abuse.
The National Security Service (NSS) was established after independence in 2011.