Gen. Khalid Botrous, former deputy head of the SSDM-Cobra Faction in South Sudan’s Boma State has defected from Salva Kiir government, citing failure to implement key provisions of the peace agreement.
The SSDM Cobra Faction signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014, but the group’s leader David Yau Yau officially joined the ruling party SPLM in January this year.
Khalid who also heads the integration committee of the SSDM-Cobra Faction told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon that he decided together with other senior commanders to rebel against the government in Juba.
He accused Salva Kiir government of failing to implement key provisions of the 2014 peace agreement. “We waited for a long period of time hoping that the government will change its policy and implement the peace agreement, but nothing has changed in the peace agreement,” said Khalid.
Khalid, who was an ally of David Yau Yau, said that the government failed to establish a commission for development provided for in the peace agreement, besides the integration of the SSDM-Cobra Faction into the country’s army.
“Up to now our forces have not received salaries, and now there is a plan to use them, the integration of forces is just ink on paper, they were not trained and integrated in a good way,” he explained.
The defected general noted that David Yau Yau is no longer leader of the former rebel group, saying Yau Yau lost membership since he joined the SPLM faction led by Salva Kiir in January.
“He is now part of the government, the SSDM-Cobra Faction still exists, so Yau Yau will go and others will continue with the mission, because we have high ranking commanders, I do not want to name them now, he claimed.
Khalid declared war against Salva Kiir government, saying they will consult with other rebel groups to coordinate programs to overthrow the current government.
“We will consult with the other opposition forces on the ground, we want to coordinate so that we save the people of South Sudan from this regime,” he said.
“We are actually forced to fight, we signed a peace agreement, but the government violated the agreement, so we are forced to fight,” he added.
Khalid, who hails from the Murle tribe, claimed that the defected group is in charge of about 16,000 soldiers of the SSDM-Cobra Faction in Boma State. He called on the people of South Sudan to unite their ranks to topple the current government in Juba for the sake of development and democracy in the country.
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