I have not defected to Gen. George Athor Deng, says senior police officer

May 9, 2010 (JUBA) – A senior officer in the Southern Sudan Police Service has accused the local administrator in his home county for alleging his defection to the rebelled former Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

Brigadier General John Jok Gai was alleged to have defected to General George Athor Deng who recently rebelled against the state government after he lost to the incumbent caretaker governor, Kuol Manyang Juuk, in the gubernatorial elections in the region’s troubled Jonglei state. Athor rejected the results and called for the sacking of the governor, saying he rigged the election results.

Brig. Gen. John Jok Gai told Sudan Tribune at his residence in Juba on Sunday, three days after his arrival from Malakal, that the source of the allegation was the Commissioner of Nyirol County, James Chuol Diew, and called on the authorities to investigate him for the false accusation.

He said he has evidences of communications between the Commissioner and the state capital with the conspiracy to accuse him even before Gen. George Athor declared his rebellion.

He disclosed that James Chuol, who replaced him in 2007 as commissioner through a presidential decree, had political differences with him and therefore took advantage of his travel from the County through Khorfulus to Malakal in Upper Nile state and rushed to term it as defection.

Brig. Gen. Gai explained that he decided to pass through Khorfulus on the 30th of April because it was closer to Malakal, then to Bor, saying he was not even aware that clashes had taken place at Doleib Hill military barrack a day before.

He regretted that his travel unfortunately coincided with the incident at Doleib Hills, which he said the Commissioner had falsely filed and sent to the state headquarters in Bor town as a defection to Gen. George Athor Deng.

Brigadier General John Jok who has been the Commissioner of Police in River Jur County of Western Bahr el Ghazal state said he left the state through permission to go to Nairobi, Kenya, for medical treatment and then left Juba for his County to check on his broken truck and to support his wife who was contesting for SPLM Women List for Juba parliament.

He said Commissioner James Chuol had ordered for the looting of 6,600 Sudanese pounds and confiscated his rifles at Pulturuk Payam of the County, adding that more than ten people were also arrested by the Commissioner over the conspiracy issue. He added that he was also detained for two days.

“I arrived Waat on 5th March 2010 and on 6th March I was arrested through the order of the commander of SPLA forces in Jonglei state, Maj. Gen. Bol Kong through the influence of the current commissioner of Nyirol county. I was tortured. An amount of 6,600SDG plus my pistol and klashinkov were taken from me. My departure order including my medical referral paper were also destroyed,” he said, adding that those incidences occurred during the election period before Gen. George Athor was declared a loser.

Brig. John Jok further explained that he has never met with Gen. George Athor during and after the elections and would not defect to him.

The Inspector General of the Southern Sudan Police Service, Lt. General Achuil Tito, had also issued a statement on the Southern Sudan TV denying the defection of Brig. Gen. John Jok to Gen. George Athor.

Brig. John Jok joined the SPLM/A in May 1983 and was among the first batch that was trained in Bonga, Ethiopia.

He was then deployed in Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile regions in 1984 until he was transferred back to Itang in Ethiopia in 1986 at the rank of 2nd Lt. and was put in charge of police service in some parts of the town.

(ST)