South Sudan's President Salva Kiir sacked SPLA Chief of Staff Gen. James Hoth Mai on Wednesday in a presidential decree.

The Chief of Staff was the highest-ranking army officer and most prominent Nuer official still remaining loyal to the government.

He is succeeded by Governor Malong Awan, a Dinka from Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, who served as governor of the state since 2008. The governor was in Juba throughout the events of December and January, helping to lead operations undertaken in the city.

In a separate decree President Kiir also sacked the Chief of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Marial Mac Paul.

Mac Paul was recently questioned as a prosecution witness at the treason trial in Juba, but declined to describe the events of 15 December as a coup attempt, saying they were instead the result of a misunderstanding in the presidential guards.

Photo: Gen. James Hoth Mai (AFP/Charles Lomodong)