Africa-Press – South-Sudan. There have been media reports alleging the recall of the advanced team of the Kit-Gwang faction, who arrived in Juba early this year to kick off the rollout of the January 2022 Khartoum Peace Agreement.
Their bosses—Gen. Simon Gatwech and Gen. Johnson Olony—were expected to come to the capital, Juba, to finalise the deal whose implementation was agreed to be completed within three months.
However, media information alleged the first advanced team headed by Gen Paul Achut Nyibek, deputy Chairperson of Agwelek Forces, had left Juba in response to their senior’s call to discuss the status of the ‘stalled peace’ in Magenis.
“This is to inform the media that Gen Simon Gatwech has recalled the advance team from Juba for consultation because the entire implementation of the Khartoum peace agreement is not being implemented and is stalled,” Kit-Gwang diplomat was quoted by the Sunday Post.
It added, “This step by the chairman does not mean that we are not for peace, but that the contract signed in the form of a peace agreement is not being implemented as agreed by the side of President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Juba.”
While it remained unclear whether the information was true, both the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and a senior member of the Kit-Gwang faction in Khartoum declined to either confirm or deny the allegation.
Mr. Samuel Tut Gai, a senior Kit-Gwang official currently in Sudan, said he could not comment because “he does not know what is going in Juba.’’ He forwarded The City Review’s inquiry to the Kit-Gwang Spokesperson.
“That is not my role [talking to the media]. Our role descriptions vary. Sorry that I am not in a position to talk to the media. We have a spokesperson in Juba who can tell you where these people are currently. We fear that people in the media are just disturbing us by making allegations that they have talked to so-and-so. That is not the way we should do things,”
SSPDF Spokesperson Gen. Lul Ruai said, “I have no information. I do not know [whether the team are here in Juba or not].”
In late January, Gen. Gatwech sent his advance team comprising senior Kit-Gwang officers to Juba to oversee the implementation process of the agreed integration of the forces into the SSPDF. This was, to begin with, the establishment of two coordination offices in the Jonglei State town of Bor and Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State, to register Kit-Gwang fighters.
Speaking to the media after landing in Juba, Gen Nyibek emphasised that their arrival in the capital was to ensure that the Khartoum Peace Agreement was successfully implemented, besides Chapter Two of the 2018 peace agreement.
“We are [in Juba] for the implementation of the agreement that we have signed. We are serious about this; the agreement has to be implemented. That is why we are here, ” Achut said.
“Upper Nile State has suffered enough [and] all its citizens are scattered, and we, the sons and daughters of Upper Nile State, have resolved that enough is enough; we don’t want more war,” he added.
“This country cannot take any more wars. We are to agree that enough is enough. We have killed ourselves enough, so when peace comes, nobody can stop it and this is what is happening now. We came here today. Olony will be here tomorrow, ” Achut added.
This was after the SPLM-IG and the Kit-Gwang group signed peace deals stipulating plans to integrate pro-Gatwech and Agwelek forces allied to Gen Olony.
The agreement that covered the land, military, and political issues was signed by Gen. Akol Koor Kuc, the Internal Security Bureau on behalf of the government and Gen. Johnson Olony, Chairman of Agwelek Forces, on behalf of the Kit Gwang faction in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, on Sunday.
The signing was witnessed by Tut Gatluak, Presidential Advisor on National Security, John Opec Akokjak, Editor and Community Leader, and Victoria Arop Odhong, the Women’s Representative. The other pact that involved Gatwech also had an amnesty call which allowed the two leaders to come to Juba in the spirit of reconciliation and to implement the new agreement.
However, little has been heard from the advance team, and their two leaders are yet to set foot in Juba.
In August 2021, Gen. Gatwech and his deputy, Gen. Olony, claimed the chair and commander in chief of the SPLM/A-IO from their former leader, Dr. Riek Machar, accusing him of delaying the implementation of the security arrangement.
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