Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Juba, South Sudan (Eye Radio) —The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) has fractured, with a group of opposition leaders breaking away to form a new faction and electing Agriculture Minister Hussein Abdelbagi Akol as its new chairperson.
The split, which effectively divides the SSOA—formerly the second-largest opposition coalition signatory to the 2018 peace agreement—was finalized at a leadership council meeting held in Juba on September 30th.
In a statement seen by Eye Radio, the new alliance declared its commitment to fully comply with its charter and regulations.
The meeting saw the participation of key member party leaders, including Hussein Abdelbagi Akol of the South Sudan Patriotic Movement, Clement Juma of the breakaway faction of the National Movement for Change, Federal Democratic Party faction led by Changkuoth Bichiock Reth, and chairperson of the National Salvation Front, Dr Gasim Barnaba, among others.
Following “lengthy deliberations,” the group decided to restructure its leadership. Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, who currently serves as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security and is the chairperson of the South Sudan Patriotic Movement, was named the chairperson of the splinter group.
Changkuoth Bichiock Reth, chairperson of the breakaway faction of the Federal Democratic Party, was appointed as the group’s Secretary General.
The breakaway group maintains that the move is intended to end polarization within the alliance and strengthen unity among parties as they work toward implementing the 2018 peace agreement.
They have called on all other signatories to the agreement—including the SPLM, SPLM-IO, OPP, and the Former Detainees—to engage and communicate with the newly elected leadership team.
The three prominent leaders of the original SSOA faction—Vice President Josephine Lagu (who chairs the Service Cluster), Dr. Lam Akol (Chairperson of the National Democratic Movement and Minister of Transport), and Changson Lew Chang (leader of the Federal Democratic Party mainstream and former Minister of Higher Education)—were notably excluded from the new alliance’s formation.
As of press time, these three key figures and their allied parties have yet to issue a formal response or statement regarding the major development and the subsequent election of Hussein Abdelbagi Akol as the new faction’s chairperson.
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