Equatoria Citizens Honour Army General
The Equatoria Community on Friday organised a thanks giving ceremony to honour Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka for the promotion from the rank of Maj. General to Lt. General and his appointment as Deputy Chief of Staff for Training. 19 May 2013 Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka with his wife at the event in Juba. [Misuk Moses Mule] By Misuk Moses Mule JUBA, 18 May 2013 [Gurtong]- The chairman of the organizing committee Dr. Wani Rundyang said that the occasion was to honour Gen. Cirilo and his colleagues for their efforts in the liberation struggle. According to Dr. Ann Itto who represented the Equatoria women, she described him as a simple man who used to eat anything with his soldiers adding that his leadership style showed by his commitment and humility has made him climb the ladder. “I remember one day during women’s day when Gen. Thomas cooked for the women and served them with food as a gesture to women and appreciation to them for the role they were playing in the liberation struggle and those who happened to get the honour of being served by these officers, the experience was close to Jesus washing the feet of the disciples on the last supper,” she said. Dr. Itto said that when ever Gen. Cirilo commanded a force during the liberation, he always left his signature on the forces through motivation and instil disciple, respect and that his command was always associated with victories. Nevertheless, she said that his appointment is timely and that the army does not only need to be reduced but also needs to be equipped and properly paid for the country to have a trusted and disciplined army. She added that the transformation will require concerted efforts adding that she is optimistic that Gen. Cirilo is up to the challenge. Dr. Itto also said that the whole country needs to be transformed through life of commitment and called on all people in the different sectors to do their jobs for the army to believe that they have something worth protecting. Meanwhile an elder from Equatoria, Hon. Janda Clement described the army as a pyramid. He described the army officers as fish and the civilians as the lake adding that they need to survive. “I need to send this massage to the army that they must not think that civilians are useless because they would be like dead fish on a dry land,” he said. “With the person of Lt. Gen. Cirilo at the training of our forces we trust that we will have a professional army sooner than later to protect this land,” he added. At the event, Gen. Cirillo thanked the president for promoting him and promised to do the best he can. “I want to begin by extending my sincere thanks and special honour to our president the commander in chief Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit for his trust in my service and for appointing me and promoting me in the position of leadership in our leadership in our military,” he said. Posted in: Home, Governance -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
