South Sudan’s Inspector General of Police Pieng Deng Kuol rejected rumors that he defected to Riek Machar’s rebellion.
The rumors began while Pieng was visiting the disputed Abyei area between Sudan and South Sudan.
“I will be the last person who will rebel,” Pieng said Friday upon his return to Juba.
“I just came back from Agok where I visited Abyei area and am now back to my headquarters. I hope that people will not say that I have come back from rebellion,” he said.
Pieng he traveled to Agok with Chol Deng, who led the Abyei referendum and that the defection rumors caught him by surprise.
“Maybe it was another Inspector General, it is not me,” Pieng said, adding that there is no reason for him to leave South Sudan to join a rebellion.
Pieng said those who say he has defected are “lying” and that even if he is relieved of his position he will not leave South Sudan or join the rebellion.
“I have fought for this country,” the police chief said. “Most of people know what have I done for this country.”
Separately, Pieng said the security situation in Abyei area is not stable because of intermintent attacks by Misseriya militias which have displaced communities.
He added that reported attempts by the Sudanese government to hold elections in Abyei are not true and that nothing of the sort take place.
Radio Tamazuj Photo: Pieng Deng Kuol, Inspector General of South Sudan Police Service, speaking at Juba International Airport on Friday