The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) says the recent appointments for the unified command of the organized forces violated an agreement by the parties.
Last Tuesday, President Salva Kiir announced a unified armed forces command, after the parties to the 2018 peace agreement on 3 April in Juba signed a deal that sets out terms of integrating SPLA-IO and SSOA commanders into government forces.
Under the deal, President Kiir’s faction got a 60% representation in key leadership positions in the military, police, national security, wildlife, and prisons. Riek Machar’s SPLA-IO and SSOA took the remaining 40%.
But, SPLA-IO’s Director for Information and Public Relations, Puok Both Baluong, told Radio Tamazuj that there are violations in the appointment of senior officers to the various positions in the organized forces’ command structures.
“In the SSPDF, the three areas of violation are in the appointments of the directors for procurement, production, and the appointment of the commander for sector two in Malakal, contrary to the agreed-upon structure. It is worth mentioning here that, the two directorates – procurement and production – are under the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs,” he said.
Both said that according to Article 9 of the matrix signed on April 3, the parties agreed that the allocations for the directorates of procurement and production would be discussed and agreed on by a joint committee in the presence of a mediator if need be, two weeks after the formation of the unified command.
“In the National Police Service structure, President Salva Kiir had omitted three directorates namely; auxiliary forces, custom, and public relations, and created five new directorates contrary to the agreed-upon structures, namely; Assistant IGP for Investment, Assistant IGP, and Commissioner for Central Equatoria, Assistant IGP for Human Resource Development, Assistant IGP for Oil Field, and Assistant IGP for Inspectorate,” Both claimed.
The SPLA-IO also faulted the president for creating new positions of deputy director-generals for administration and finance in the internal and external security bureau and appointing his allies to those positions.
Both pointed out that the matrix dictates that the structures of the two branches of the National Security Service (NSS) will be a director-general for both internal and external security (ITGONU), and a deputy (Opposition) plus the directorates.
He mentioned that these violations are meant to isolate SPLM/A-IO from the finance and administration of directorates, a move that will hinder the implementation of the needed reforms.
“This attempt by the president is to move and separate the opposition, particularly the SPLM/A (IO) from the finance and administration within these directorates, and that will make it harder for us to implement the reforms needed, especially in the finance sector within all the organized forces. Also, it will cripple the work of these deputy director generals and the directorates allocated to the SPLM/A (IO),” Both noted.
In conclusion, Both urged President Salva Kiir to conform to the agreed structure of the SSPDF, National Police, and the National Security Service to ease the implementation of the security arrangements per the 2018 peace agreement.
The parties plan to set a detailed timetable for the graduation of the first batch of the unified forces at training centers this week.
The graduation of the unified armed forces is a necessary step in the fulfillment of the agreement’s chapter on security arrangements.