The commander of the presidential guards says SPLA bodyguards of the leaders need to be trained, reintegrated and redistributed according to leadership positions.

Many reports indicate that the gunfire in Juba in December 2013, which led to the conflict, started among soldiers believed to be loyal only to their tribes.

General Marial Chanuong says there is A need to review how the SPLA recruits bodyguards of high-ranking officials.

“We will not be able to form the national army by now unless there is a will from our own leaders to surrender these bodyguards, so they are trained and integrated, then you are given bodyguards according to your position you hold,” he told Eye Radio, saying leaders recruited their own relatives.

“When the government was first formed, everybody who got himself to be part of the South Sudan government came in with his bodyguards. Every VIP had his own relatives as bodyguards.”

General Marial blamed the current political crises on poor recruitment of the SPLA.

On rising insecurity in Juba, General Chanuong said the Joint Operation Forces in Juba have not failed to maintain the security.

However, he stresses that the rising insecurity in Juba is due to what he calls weak and slow prosecution of suspects.