{"id":47411,"date":"2026-09-01T16:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=47411"},"modified":"2026-09-01T16:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:03:10","slug":"government-denies-coup-says-president-kiir-remains-secure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/01\/government-denies-coup-says-president-kiir-remains-secure\/","title":{"rendered":"Government denies coup, says President Kiir remains secure"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Minister of Information and the government\u2019s spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, have dismissed speculation of a possible coup, citing that President Salva Kiir remains secure.<\/p>\n

He urged the public not to listen to what he described as propaganda and rumours.<\/p>\n

Speaking to journalists yesterday, Ateny said there was no coup under way and questioned why an alleged takeover was being openly discussed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe non-existence of a coup is why it is being discussed, because if there is no coup people discuss it, but if there is a coup, they will not discuss it,\u201d Ateny said.<\/p>\n

The minister said he did not believe anyone in South Sudan was capable of staging a coup, arguing that the country had not reached a stage where military takeovers could succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think there is anybody capable of making a coup in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are yet to get into the level where coups are done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ateny also sought to dismiss suggestions that President Kiir could be removed from power, saying the president continues to enjoy the loyalty of former members of the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army (SPLA), many of whom now hold senior political and military positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Kiir, for that matter, among his colleagues, the former SPLA soldiers, there is nobody who wants to see somebody who is not President Kiir as president of the country for now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He called on South Sudanese to avoid spreading unverified information and to rely on official channels for information about the country\u2019s security situation.<\/p>\n

His comments come as South Sudan continues to face political and security challenges, including renewed fighting in parts of the country and tensions surrounding the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.<\/p>\n

The agreement ended years of civil war between forces loyal to Kiir and those associated with his former deputy, Riek Machar, and established a power-sharing government. However, implementation has repeatedly been delayed, and political tensions have persisted.<\/p>\n

Machar, the suspended First Vice-President, has been detained in Juba and is facing legal proceedings, while violence involving government and opposition-linked forces has continued in parts of the country.<\/p>\n

South Sudan is also preparing for elections scheduled for December 2026, although questions remain over security, political participation and the implementation of key provisions of the peace agreement.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, speculation about political instability has continued to circulate, particularly on social media.<\/p>\n

The government has repeatedly warned the public against what it describes as misinformation capable of creating fear and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Ateny maintained that the government remains firmly in control and that there is no immediate threat of a military takeover.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing like a coup,\u201d he said, describing the reports as speculation.<\/p>\n

The minister\u2019s remarks represent the government\u2019s position. No independent evidence of an attempted coup was presented during the briefing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yiep Joseph The Minister of Information and the government\u2019s spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, have dismissed speculation of a possible coup, citing that President Salva Kiir remains secure. He urged the public not to listen to what he described as propaganda and rumours. Speaking to journalists yesterday, Ateny said there[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":47412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Information-minister-and-government-spokesperson-Ateny-Wek-Ateny-photo-by-Louis-Loku-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47413,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47411\/revisions\/47413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}