The new Chief of General Staff, General James Ajonga Mawut has been sworn into office, hours after his appointment in a presidential decree last night.

General Ajonga took the oath at the presidential palace, J1, in Juba this morning.

He said he is taking over a difficult task because the country is at war.

But he described his appointment as a normal routine in the army.

“I would like, in first place, to thank the president for his confidence that he has given to me. I know it is difficult task given the fact that the country is at war by itself, but making use of our good human resource – my colleagues behind here – I believe that they are the right people who will be posted in the right places and we will be able to manage the situation and we will exit from this conflict. So I would like to assure our people that the situation now is clam; is normal,” Gen. Ajonga said.

General Ajonga is replacing General Paul Malong Awan, who was removed from office last night.

General Malong was the Governor of the former Northern Bhar al-Ghazal State before his appointment as the SPLA Chief of General Staff in April 2014.