General Johnson Olony, commander of the ‘Aguelek’ opposition forces in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, says that he may be willing to fight President Salva Kiir over his new plan to create 28 states, according to a report yesterday by the BBC.
The president announced on 2 October the dissolution of the ten existing states and constitutions and their replacement with 28 new states carved out largely along ethnic lines.
Minorities of Olony’s Shilluk ethnic group were left in the majority Dinka Eastern Nile State, while the state given to the Shilluk, Western Nile, was split in two by a decision to give Eastern Nile a slice of land from Malakal to the Sudan border.
The BBC reporter who interviewed Olony said yesterday that the general was “angry” about the creation of the 28 new states and pessimistic about the peace deal signed in August between Kiir and his rival Riek Machar, head of the SPLM-IO rebel group.
Olony called the plan to create new states a “naked power-grab”, accusing the government also of undermining the deal with attacks on civilians. He expressed anger at what he perceives as the “wrongful” occupation of this tribe’s land by the government.
Last year Olony’s forces fought alongside Kiir’s, but defected this year soon after the killing of his deputy Johnson Bwugo, allegedly by Dinka militia, in an ambush north of Malakal. After that his forces briefly captured the towns Malakal and Melut before they were retaken by Kiir loyalists.