South Sudan’s government says that SPLM-IO Chairman Riek Machar did not respect his commitment to arrive in Juba this week as planned.
The Juba-based government said that it made all necessary preparations for the reception of Machar in Juba this week, according to a press statement by the Ministry of Information.
The statement accuses Machar of trying to bring with him to Juba “an arsenal of arms, inter alia, anti-tanks, laser-guided missiles an heavy machine guns.”
“The protection force of the 1st vice president designate of 350 is already on the ground with all their armaments. He does not need any additional armed forces or arms in Juba,” reads the statement.
For their part, the SPLM-IO have blamed logistical problems for the delay of Machar’s arrival.
Nyarji Roman, the deputy spokesman for Machar’s office, wrote on his public Facebook page this afternoon that the delay was caused by failure to secure “landing permits” in Gambella and Juba.
“The landing permit for Juba is not yet secured as of now… General Taban Deng Gai is trying his level best to secure this permit now from National Security and Foreign Affairs of South Sudan.”
“If the permit is secured the airplane can leave from Khartoum, Sudan to Gambella which takes 1 hours and 30 minutes flight. The First Vice President will be arriving tomorrow April 20, 2016 if all goes well,” said Nyarji.
The SPLM-IO spokesman further apologized for any inconvenience caused.