South Sudan’s National Security Service this week prevented members of the SPLM-IO Advance Team from leaving Juba to participate in a meeting between their leader Riek Machar and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala.
SPLM-IO spokesman Mabior Garang said in a press release yesterday that the security personnel “stopped the trip of the SPLM’s (In Opposition) Advance Team traveling to join their Chairman, who is on a peace mission to Kampala, Uganda.”
He said they also “illegally” stopped members from traveling to Nairobi for medical treatment on 19 January.
Mabior blamed Akol Kur, director-general of the National Security Service. The same security official is cited in a UN Experts report as one of a “narrow circle” of security officials having command responsibility for “waging an aggressive war” in South Sudan.
The UN Panel reported several names to a Security Council sanctions committee for “policies that threaten the peace, security and stability of the country,” recommending that they be subject to asset freezes and a travel ban.
According to the press release by SPLM-IO, “the Director-General of Internal Security on several occasions has impeded the movements of members of the Advance Team of the SPLM (In Opposition) on dubious grounds.”