A leading cadre in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Central Equatoria State says that no active-duty soldiers are allowed to hold party positions or political positions in the state because “the army is dissociated from politics.”
Jackson Abugo Gama, the secretary-general of the SPLM party in Central Equatoria State (CES) and also an advisor to the governor on political affairs said, “The army doesn’t belong to any political party, the army is dissociated from politics, the army is clearly there to defend the sovereignty of the state. This is something… in any democratic country.”
“In as far as SPLM party is concerned, no active soldier is supposed is to hold political office because otherwise it is [in conflict] with your responsibility as a member of forces that defend the sovereignty of the state regardless of which party is in the power,” he said.
Abugo acknowledged that some politicians are still addressed by their military titles even though they have left active military service, but he stressed that this does not mean they are still military.
“Yes, people may have their military titles simply because by the time they were given a [civilian] responsible they were already in the military.”
He clarified that civilian political leaders exercise authority in security matters but not in the role of SPLA commanders, citing, for example the role of a governor or county commissioner in chairing state security committees.
“Our governor is a major-general, but he has no active military directives or responsibility except by virtue of being the governor in the office he is the chairman of the security committee,” Abugo explained.