Gatwech not after presidential advisory position, says Kitgwang
The Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) Kit Gwang faction led by Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual has rubbished reports that President Salva Kiir urged its chairman to take up the position of the Presidential Advisor for Peace which he previously rejected.
The Press Secretary of Kit Gwang faction, James Kalany Mamuon, said Gatwech had not spoken to Kiir on such issues.
“We don’t have anything of that kind,” he said. “Our chairman has never talked with President Kiir about that issue, its propaganda from our detractors,” he said.
Khartoum peace agreement on course
Kalany said the Kitgwang faction is currently focusing on the Khartoum peace agreement, which he claimed has witnessed tangible progress in its implementation.
The Press Secretary stated that the significant progress made in the Khartoum Peace Agreement was military programmes and could not be revealed until time was ripe.
“There is a lot of progress with the regards of Khartoum Peace agreements, but we don’t want to reveal them by now, since the all issues are military programmes, they will reveal when the time is appropriate,” he added.
However, he concluded that their forces had been thwarting attacks at Mirmir but the aggressors were repulsed.
Peace deal
On January 16, 2022, the government delegation led by the presidential security advisor, Tut Gatluak Manime, signed a peace deal with the SPLA-IO Kit Gwang faction led by Simon Gatwech Dual.
The peace accord indicated that the Kit Gwang forces would be integrated into the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF). This was to be done through the formation of a joint security committee to oversee the entire integration process and the relocation of Kit Gwang forces from Magenis in Northern Upper Nile.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit granted Kit Gwang amnesty on the same day of the signing of the agreement and asked them to apologize to the people of South Sudan for wrongdoing.
The advanced teams of Kit Gwang and Agwelek forces later arrived in Juba but delays had been prevalent with the formation of the joint security committee as well as the continued clashes between the SPLA-IO led by the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar Teny and Kit Gwang faction around Nasir and Mirmir.
Machar after the signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement wrote a statement ordering his forces to disengage because Kit Gwang forces had signed a “defection agreement” and therefore, they were part of the SSPDF.
Machar therefore warned that any violation by the Kit Gwang forces would be blamed on SSPDF as far as the Khartoum Peace Agreement is concerned. Immediately on Gatwech’s arrival at the Kit Gwang headquarters at Magenis, noticeable clashes were witnessed between Kit Gwang faction and SPLA-IO.
SSPDF blamed
On February 10, 2022, the SPLA-IO of Dr Machar accused SSPDF after they had an engagement with Kit Gwang forces.
The SPLA-IO Spokesperson Col Lam Paul Gabriel accused the commissioner of Koch County of commanding forces to attack them at Mirmir. Col Lam said SSPDF had violated the Revitalised Peace Agreement by failing to control Kit Gwang forces.
“Mirmir is a cantonment site under the command and control of the Joint Defence Board (JDB). Secondly, the Kit Gwang elements signed a defection agreement with the SSPDF in Khartoum last month. As a result, it is not only a violation from them but also a complete proxy war waged by our peace partner against the SPLA-IO in Mirmir cantonment,” Col. Lam stated.
Col Lam call for expeditious implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) as the solution to unsolicited attacks.
“Completion of the security arrangements is the only way forward. War of proxy cannot bring peace but more violence and displacement of innocent civilians,” he concluded.
SSPDF Innocent
The spokesperson of SSPDF, Maj Gen Lul Ruai Koang, rebutted the claim that their forces had commanders and could not be commanded by commissioners.
“The commissioner of Koch County does not have forces under his command. We don’t have our own forces that are being commanded by the commissioner. We have a regular commander who commands our troops. So, in the first place, the accusation on that basis that our commissioner ordered forces to attack them is not true because we don’t have forces at Mirmir, our forces are in Leer,” Maj Gen Lul said.
He stated that the SSPDF could not control the Kit Gwang forces since they had not been integrated, adding that the process of integration was long. However, he noted that those who had been attacking SPLA-IO were Kit Gwang forces backed by armed civilians because there were not SSPDF forces in Mirmir.
