SSPDF Spokesperson, Major General Lul Ruai visiting the army's cantonment site 25KM outside Juba, along Nimule Highway in 2017.

The spokesperson of SSPDF says the army is having fewer qualified psychiatrists to provide counselling services to mentally troubled members of the organised forces.

This comes days after a soldier reportedly killed his wife in eastern Lakes state.

According to the state authorities, the man identified as Gai Bol opened fire on his wife amidst a quarrel over the weekend.

The soldier reportedly smoked marijuana before shooting dead his wife.

The minister of information in Eastern lakes urged military authorities to check mental health of soldiers to avoid recurrence of such crimes.

In response, the SSPDF spokesperson Major General – Lul Ruai Koang described the incident as an isolated case.

However, he said it is difficult for the army to reach out to each and every soldier because it doesn’t have psychiatrists and specialized hospital for these services.

“Yes, we have problem of enough trained medical personnel in general, and in particular we do not have enough psychiatrists,” Gen. Lul said.

Referring the case of the soldier, he said: ““We failed to know that he was in that condition, simply because it is practically impossible for every service man and woman to be monitored.”

Gen. Lul explained that “the infrastructure in place do not allow the limited personnel we have to cover all the forces deployed wherever they are.”

Major general Lul Ruai went on to say that the soldier who killed his wife will be tried in a military court very soon.