Former SPLA Chief of Staff threatens march on Juba
September 20, 2023 (JUBA) – A former Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) Chief of General Staff has warned of plans to mobilize a substantial force to march on Juba, aiming for what he calls the country’s “second liberation.”
General Oyai Deng Ajak, who also served as the Minister of National Security as well as Minister of Investment before South Sudan’s secession in 2011, voiced his intentions during an interview conducted with Mathiang Cirilo, an independent South Sudanese journalist from an undisclosed location outside the country.
Ajak expressed his frustration with President Salva Kiir and described his current status as being out of the country due to marginalization by Kiir’s administration.
The ex-SPLA Chief of Staff alleged Kiir had hijacked leadership structures within the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) for personal gain, undermining the original vision and ideals for which people twice took up arms.
“I have not rebelled. I am here because Salva Kiir does not want me in Juba,” said Ajak.
He said that during his tenure as SPLA Chief of General Staff, he was accused four times of plotting to remove Kiir from his positions as President, Commander-in-Chief of the SPLA and Supreme Commander of the other organized forces.
In 2013, during a debate about reforms within the leadership of the ruling party, a violent conflict erupted, leading to Ajak’s arrest. He then went into exile in 2014 as part of the former detainees after former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta mediated their release and allowed them to stay in Kenya.
While some members returned under the 2015 Arusha Reunification Agreement, including former SPLM Secretary-General, Pagan Amum, Ajak remained out of the country, creating uncertainty about his formal position.
The former SPLA Chief of General Staff has neither declared allegiance to Amum nor formed his own faction, leading to speculation about his affiliations, with some linking him to Amum and others suggesting a loose alliance with the former detainees participating in the Transitional Government of National Unity.
(ST)