Skip to main content
KHARTOUM - 11 Oct 2017

Lam Akol calls for a national army before elections

Lam Akol Ajawin, leader of South Sudan’s opposition National Democratic Movement (NDM), has underscored a need for a unified national army in the country in the ongoing IGAD-led consultative meetings on revitalization of the 2015 peace agreement.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, Akol said his party has given the IGAD delegation in Khartoum a document that spells out the importance of having a national army in South Sudan.

He pointed out that the current SPLA forces are mainly from the Dinka and Nuer ethnic communities.

Akol further said the United Nations and the African Union should support the formation of a new national army that is representative of all the ethnic communities in the country before the general elections.

The prominent opposition leader called for a clear mechanism that would hold any party violating the agreement accountable, accusing President Salva Kiir of violating the 2015 peace accord.