Probe Lam Akol over rebel links, S. Sudan MPs tell gov’t

By Julius N. Uma

October 4, 2011 (JUBA) – A group of South Sudan lawmakers have condemned the return to Juba of opposition leader Lam Akol, after months of self-imposed exile and accusations that he is involved with rebel groups in the newly independent country.

Many MPs in South Sudan’s National Assembly – also known as August House – saw his return as an opportunity for reconciliation and rebuilding of the new county, which became independent in July. Others, however, accused the chairman of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) of betraying South Sudan.

As recently as August the South Sudan government has accused the SPLM-DC of having its own militia and supporting other rebel groups. The SPLM-DC have always denied this and Akol has even threatened to go to court over the issue.

In a heated debate in the presence of the speaker of the house, Wani Igga, lawmakers queried the circumstances under which the opposition leader returned to South Sudan, citing his alleged links with dissident forces fighting the southern government.

Peter Bashir Gbandi, the chairman of the specialised committee for information and culture at the National Assembly asked why the August House was not briefed earlier about Akol’s return.

Another member of the assembly from Upper Nile state, who talked to Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity said he was shocked to the learn that the southern government had so easily reconciled itself with someone it has so recently accused of allegedly masterminding rebellions in various parts of the country.

“I only came to learn about Lam Akol’s meeting with the president through the press only to learn days later that he was now in Juba. This is ridiculous. Lam Akol and his activities need proper investigations,” the MP said.

The SPLM-DC is a break-away faction of South Sudan’s ruling – and former rebel group – the SPLM. This is the second time Akol has broken from the movement. In 1991 he was one of the high profile leaders who split from the SPLM over political differences, most notably wanting a higher emphasis on self determination for South Sudan and the lack of democratisation within the party.

Akol rejoined the SPLM before the 2005 peace deal that granted South Sudan the referendum on independence which led to its secession. In the 1991 it was differences with the late John Garang that provoked the split but in 2009 when he split again it was Garang’s deputy, Salva Kiir, who led the SPLM and was the president of the South Sudan.

Thursday’s surprise meeting was intended to mend the wounds, which can be dated back to general elections in April 2010 in which Kiir won 93% of the presidential votes, comfortably beating Akol who stood against him.

Akol accused the electoral commission of gross malpractices in favor of the incumbent.

Since then, Akol has been accused by the southern leadership of having very close links with the rebel group headed by a former general in the of the South Sudan army (SPLA) renegade Gen. George Deng Athor. Athor took up arms against the southern government after his bid to become the governor of Jonglei state, in the same general elections.

On several occasions, however, the SPLM-DC leader has repeatedly denied all these wave of allegations; often pointing fingers at those he calls his “political enemies”,many of whom have not forgiven him for the 1991 split.

But Onyoti Adigo, the opposition leader in the National Assembly accused some lawmakers of undermining the powers of the president, whom he said could have given the SPLM-DC leader green light to return home.

“The government has three organs, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Now, if Dr. Lam met the president in Nairobi and the two agreed on certain modalities, then who are these MPs to question the president’s directive” Adigo told Sudan Tribune by phone.

The opposition leader, who was part of the team that organised Akol’s return said the SPLM must have known as it would have been discussed at the weekly meeting of the council of ministers.

The process of reconciliation and nation building, Adigo emphasised, should take into account the views of all stakeholders, including the opposition.

“Democracy and good governance should not only be preached, but also seen to be practiced in reality. If SPLM is truly committed to these values, then its members should also consider the views of others as well,” Adigo, a member of the SPLM-DC, said.

Akol has promised to fully cooperate with the government in order to build peace and help the nation develop.

However Akol dismissed as “rubbish” speculation that his surprise meeting last week with the country’s president Salva Kiir was a prelude to his return to the mainstream Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

(ST)