Lt. Gen. Phone Myat appointed Home Minister in major cabinet reshuffle following Myanmar general election

Mizzima

In a significant leadership change following the conclusion of the three-phase general election, the military junta’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) has appointed Lt. Gen. Phone Myat as the new Union Minister for Home Affairs.

The announcement, published in state-controlled newspapers on 28 January 2026, follows Order No. 4/2026 signed by Executive Chief Aung Lin Dwe.

Lt. Gen. Phone Myat, an alumnus of the Officers Training School (OTS-73), transitions to this key role from his most recent positions as Adjutant General and Commander of the Bureau of Special Operations 5 (BSO-5). He replaces Lt. Gen. Tun Tun Naung, who has been reassigned to his original military duties after serving as Home Minister since January 2025.

This reshuffle is seen as a move to consolidate high-level military oversight within the Ministry of Home Affairs as the junta prepares to transition to a new government framework in April 2026.

Lt. Gen. Tun Tun Naung, who was removed from his post, graduated from the 25th intake of the Defence Services Academy and was in the same batch as the current junta Minister of Transport and Communications, former Gen. Mya Tun Oo, and former Gen. Aung Lin Dwe, a member of the junta.

The junta has also recently reshuffled the deputy minister posts within the Ministry of Home Affairs.

On 23 January, it was announced that Deputy Home Affairs Minister Maj. Gen. Aung Kyaw Kyaw was returned to his original military duties and replaced by Maj. Gen. Min Thu, the Deputy Chief of the Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs.