A rebel group calling itself South Sudan Democratic Front (SSDF) led by Lt. General Gordon Koang Chuol that fought alongside the SPLM-IO faction by former vice president turned rebel leader Riek Machar have defected and joined the Federal Democratic Party led former youth minister Gabriel Changson Chang.
The opposition group, in a statement dated 20 October and seen by Radio Tamazuj, said they decided to abandon Machar’s group due to poor leadership style in the armed movement.
“When Dr. Riek Machar knew that we fight for change, he deceived us to bring our armies to Kuek and fight to SPLM/A-IG side by side for the right of the people of South Sudan, he told us that take your soldiers to Kuek and stay over there with his forces,” partly reads the statement.
“When we came to Kuek, he said go to Magany and the time we reached Magany, the Magany area commander for SPLM/A-IO forces Chigach Gatluak has started his disarmament to our solders and put some of them in jail, he did not want our forces to stay in Magany and organize ourselves because we have different objectives meanwhile SSDF has been fighting for change and the SPLM/A-IO is fighting for positions,” adds the group’s statement.
The SSDF rebel group claimed that the former vice president EK Machar signed the 2015 peace accord without consultation with all opposition groups that have fought for the same cause, adding that the SPLM/A-IO leadership under Machar failed to address root causes of the problem.