General Taban Deng Gai took oath of office on Tuesday as the First Vice President in the Transitional Government of National Unity, replacing Dr Riek Machar.
President Salva Kiir in his inaugural address calls for correction of mistakes that brought war after signing the agreement for people of South Sudan to remain in peace, Radio Bakhita reports.
In his acceptance speech, Gai claims that he stepped in as the leader of the SPLM-IO to fill a vacuum created by Dr Machar’s absence to save South Sudan.
Taban Deng Gai, was a former chief negotiator of the SPLM-IO in the peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and became Minister of Mining.
He was endorsed as head of the SPLM-IO by a faction of senior party members in Juba, but Dr Machar’s supporters say the move was illegal.