S. Sudan army says armed rebellion uncovered within Equatoria region
November 23, 2014 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese army (SPLA) claimed it uncovered a plan by some politicians and former militia members allegedly to form a rebellion parallel to that of the armed opposition led by the country’s former vice president, Riek Machar.
The army, he claimed, has closely been following activities of Kenyi and his group over the past months until it allegedly landed on a group that agreed to reactivate Equatoria Defense forces to fight an independent state from the rest of the republic of South Sudan.
“The group conducted their meeting in Kampala, Uganda on Tuesday last week and they agreed to appoint Martin Kenyi as the overall commander of the group,” said the senior army officer.
The group, as part of its resolutions, reportedly agreed to operate as a separate entity from the armed opposition led by Machar.
“Their objective is to fight for separation of Equatoria region from the rest of South Sudan,” claimed the military source.
Sylvester Akar and Michael Okuni were allegedly named the movement’s chief of general staff and head of mobilisation respectively.
Sudan Tribune was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the allegations from the military, although several opposition sources and government critics from Equatoria region do not rule out the existence of armed opposition groups intending to defend people.
Kenyi was commander of the Equatoria Defense Force, a military wing of political group associated with Theophilus Ochan Loti, who broke away from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) at the height of the past civil war between 1983 and 2005.
Kenyi later became a member of the South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF), a group of armed forces operating in southern Sudan, aligned with the government of Sudan against the SPLM/A. The SSDF was a composition of tribal militiamen based in their areas, which were used by Khartoum to resist SPLM/A incursions during the 1980s, alongside fighters who remained loyal to Machar after 1991 split.
The group signed the Khartoum Agreement in 1997, which committed the government of Sudan to self-determination for southern Sudan, but for which the referendum promised was never conducted, prompting Machar to return to the SPLM/A in January 2002. Most of his forces, together with a group of government allied militias which joined the SSDF in mid-2001 continued to maintain their commitment to the Khartoum agreement until peace signed in 2005.
Kenyi as the military leader of the Equatorial Defence Force, one of the components of the SSDF, became the 11-man military high command of the SSDF. During the last round of the Inter-govermental Authority on Development (IGAD) negotiations held in Kenya in May 2003 on the security arrangements, Kenyi was a member of the government of Sudan negotiating team.
(ST)