SPLM-IO condemns minister’s arrest along Nimule road
The office of the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar said Sunday that the National Minister of Mining, who is a senior official of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), Martin Abucha, was ‘unlawfully’ arrested by men in uniforms.
The Director for Information and Public Relations who also serves as Dr. Machar’s Press Secretary, Puok Both Baluang, said Mr. Abucha was intercepted and detained on his way to Uganda, but later released after the SPLM/A-IO leadership’s intervention.
“The honourable minister, Martin Abucha, was unlawfully detained by the SSPDF on his way to Uganda. He was detained for a few hours, but after the intervention of the leadership of the SPLM/A-IO, particularly the First Vice President, he was released to proceed with his journey.”
“No reason was given, and there is no provision in the agreement that the minister can be arrested. What happened is a violation of the rights of constitutional post-holders. It is a violation of the agreement that our members be detained unlawfully by the SSPDF,” said Baluang.
Some media reports claimed that Abucha was arrested in Loa, Easter Equatoria State, along the Juba-Nimule road early Saturday morning. It alleged that the minister was harassed before being driven to the detention area where he was held with four of his bodyguards and a driver.
“We condemn this act in the strongest terms possible and we look forward to investigating this incident to hold the people behind that uncountable. This is one of the reasons why we have called for the quick implementation of the security arrangement, “said Baluang.
When contacted, the SSPDF Spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai, declined to comment on the matter, saying “that it is at the level of the presidency.” He referred The City Review to the higher government authorities.
But Baluang said the act constituted a violation of the peace agreement and should be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable to prevent such future occurrences.
He called on the government to expedite the implementation of the security arrangement—the graduation and deployment of the joint forces—to prevent arrest, torture, and intimidation of the opposition members.
“Our peace partners are not respecting our national ministers. So there is a need for the SPLM-IG to discipline their forces, and urgently implement Chapter Two of the arrangement so as to stop all these kind things, “he added.
This happened just a few days after an SPLM-IO official, Andrew Acheng, resigned from his position as a commissioner of Yirol County in the Lakes States, citing intimidation, and arrest by the area administration.
“Your excellency, it has been two months since I was humiliated as the sitting commissioner in Yirol Freedom Square and arbitrarily arrested, put behind the bar in Babur–Zeit Military prison as forced out of the county…,” Acheng wrote in his resignation letter to his boss Dr. Machar
South Sudan is being run by a coalition government composed of the SPLM-IG, SPLM-IO, South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), Other Political Party (OPP), and the Former Detainees (FD) as provided for in Chapter 1.3.1.1 of the 2018 revitalised peace agreement.
The agreement further called on parties to demonstrate political will and work in unity to forge trust by providing political space for all parties to freely exercise their political agenda during the transition period.
Currently, parties have less than ten months until the end of the transitional period, but more than half of the tasks remain unfinished, including Chapter Two of the security arrangement, which is critical to the overall peace agreement.
