Gatwech lays conditions before coming to Juba

The signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement breathed a fresh air of good news to Magenis, a war-torn location in the northern strip of Upper Nile State.

It was when the SPLM-IG took magical strides and extended its long hands to the Kit Gwang faction led by generals Simon Gatwech Dual and Johnson Olony to restore calm in the northern Upper Nile.

This culminated in the signing of an agreement on January 16, 2022, paving way for an advanced team of Kit Gwang and Agwelek forces to come to Juba to prepare the way for the visit of their Chairman Simon Gatwech Dual and his deputy Johnson Olony Thubo.

Since the arrival of this team, there has been a long wait for Gatwech and Olony to arrive at the capital but this has never been forthcoming.

Several sources have claimed that Gatwech and Olony demand joint amnesty for both Kit Gwang and Agwelek forces despite the amnesty issued by the president on the same day when the agreement was signed.

Yesterday, the press secretary of SPLM/A-IO Kit Gwang faction James Kalany Mamuon, dismissed the allegations saying Agwelek forces are part of Kit Gwang forces and the amnesty issued by the president covered the entire group.

He said nothing was preventing the visit of Simon Gatwech and Johnson Olony to Juba; however, there were other arrangements to be put in place before the two leaders return to Juba.

After the agreement was signed, President Salva Kiir granted amnesty to the SPLM/A-IO Kit Gwang faction adding that he had forgiven them on behalf of the people of South Sudan.

He urged them to apologise to South Sudanese for wrongdoing.

Potential delays

Mr Kalany told The City Review that the visit of Gatwech and Olony depends on the completion of arrangements of integrating the forces and their relocation, which he said the delegation present in Juba is working on together with the government.

“Nothing is hindering the chairman from visiting Juba but the advanced military team is in Juba. His return will now depend on the agreement on forces’ assembly places. When these arrangements are completed, he will go to Juba without hindrance,” Kalany said.

He stressed that it was the reason why their chairman had not yet arrived in Juba yet but added that once the arrangements are done the two leaders would come to the capital.

The agreement stipulated prescribed the formation of the joint security committee within three months to work upon the integration of Kit Gwang and Agwelek forces into SSPDF, relocate Kit Gwang forces from Magenis and monitor the implementation of the Khartoum Peace Agreement as well as the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement.

Visit Magenis

The chairman and commander-in-chief of SPLM/A-IO Kit Gwang on Saturday last week returned to his headquarters in Magenis with his delegation where he reportedly briefed his forces about the contents of the agreement.

“The Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) Kitgwang 1st Lt Gen, Simon Gatwech Dual and his accompanying delegation, comprising of senior military officers left Khartoum this morning (Saturday) for Kitgwang/Magenis, South Sudan, the SPLM/A-IO General headquarters,” said Kalany, who is the Press Secretary.

“Gatwech has been in Khartoum recently to sign Peace with the Government of South Sudan, and his return to Kitgwang/Magenis was to go and preach the content of the document of peace agreements to the forces on the grounds.”

Kalany said they were committed to the implementation of the Khartoum Peace Agreement as well as the 2018 peace agreement for peace to prevail in the country.

“The SPLM-IO-Kitgwang reiterates its full commitment to the implementation of Khartoum Peace agreements in letter and spirit, as the sole way to attain Peace in South Sudan,” he concluded.

Dragging committee formation

On January 24, 2022, the government delegation led by the Presidential Security Advisor, Tut Gatluak Manime met with President Salva Kiir and briefed him on the agreement signed between SPLM-IG, and the Agwelek forces of the SPLM/A-IO Kitgwang faction.

The president welcomed the agreement and called for the speedy implementation of the agreement.

“President Salva Kiir Mayardit told the delegation that he welcomes the Khartoum Peace Agreement between the SPLM-IG and Agwelek Forces and urged for an immediate implementation of the Agreement,” read the statement from the office of the president.

“Jokino Fidel added that they are going to speed up the process of the implementation of the Khartoum Peace Agreement between the SPLM-IG and Agwelek Forces immediately.”

The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) in which Kit Gwang and Agwelek forces would be integrated had been saying that they had not received any communication about the Khartoum Peace Agreement.

“We have not yet received any communication from the delegation concerning the formation of the committee and the integration. You can try to confirm the progress from the delegation,” Maj Gen Lul Ruai said.

No progress has been recorded so far about the formation of the Joint Security Committee to oversee the Khartoum peace agreement and possible reasons for the delays are scanty.

Conditions for agreement

The Khartoum Peace Agreement comprised six areas to be met by the parties to the agreement. First of all, the government was obliged to grant amnesty to the leaders of the factions as done in the 2018 peace agreement.

Both parties pledged commitment to the Khartoum Declaration Agreement of June 27, 2018, supporting the settlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other government initiatives.

The Joint Security Committee (yet to be formed), would carry out the implementation of the peace agreement and make sure that the Kit Gwang forces are relocated to Manyo, Southern Malakal, and Eastern Jonglei.

The police forces would be deployed to secure the civilians and the coordination offices should be built in Bor, Juba, and Malakal, food and medical supplies provided by the SSPDF.