The SPLA-IO faction allied to former first vice president and rebel leader Riek Machar in the Equatoria region has distanced itself from the SPLA-IO faction loyal to the incumbent First Vice President Taban Deng Gai.
In December 2016, Taban Deng Gai visited Yei town where he called on the SPLA-IO forces in the area to abandon rebellion and join the peace process under his leadership.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj today, Godwil Wai, military spokesperson for the SPLA-IO in the Equatoria region, said their forces in the area do not recognize Taban Deng Gai.
He claimed that Taban Deng doesn’t have powers to command the SPLA-IO forces in the Equatoria region. “Taban Deng Gai’s call that the SPLA-IO forces in the Equatoria region should defect to him is rubbish. This call is unfounded, and it is a continuation of his conspiracy with Kiir to subjugate the SPLA-IO forces here,” said Wai.
“We would like to remind our citizens and the outside world that Taban Deng Gai does not have any constituency in the Equatoria region, and he does not have even a single soldier here. Therefore, we consider any thing he said illegal,” he added.
The spokesperson emphasized on the need to resuscitate the signed peace agreement in South Sudan.
File photo: Central Equatoria map