Africa-Press – South-Sudan. On Friday, 03/10/2025, President Salva Kiir relieved the Governor of Upper Nile State, James Koang Chol, and appointed Jacub Dollar, the former state legislative assembly speaker, as his replacement.
The announcement was made through two separate republican decrees read on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Friday night.
General James Koang Chol had served as Governor of Upper Nile for just about seven months before his dismissal.s
Koang, a former SPLA-IO Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration and Finance, defected from Dr. Riek Machar’s movement in March 2020 along with three other generals, declaring allegiance to President Kiir.
This came shortly after his dismissal from the Joint Defense Board by Dr. Machar in January of the same year.
At the time of his defection, Gen. Koang had been closely working with the SSPDF Chief of Defense Forces to train and build confidence among forces, as part of the envisioned unification of the military.
Previously, he defected from his role as SPLA Fourth Division Commander in December 2013 and was later appointed as commander of the SPLA-IO Special Division in 2014.
Before officially leaving the SPLM/A-IO in 2020, he was serving as Deputy Chief of Staff under Lt. Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual.
Gen. Koang publicly accused Dr. Riek Machar of turning the opposition movement into a family affair.
Following his defection, he was appointed as the SSPDF Assistant Chief of Defense Forces for Training.
Both the outgoing Governor Koang and his successor, Jacub Dollar, were appointed on the SPLM ticket.
The relieved governor’s appointed on March 19, 2025, came two weeks after the Nasir incident in which the White Army over-ran the SSPDF Garrison leaving hundreds dead.
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