Top South Sudanese rebel defector in talks with government

November 28, 2015 (JUBA) – A top South Sudanese rebel commander, who in July defected from the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by former vice-president, Riek Machar, has finally come out of shadows and requested president Salva Kiir’s government for a deal which would make it possible for him to return to Juba.

After more than 4 months of defection when he disowned the leadership of Machar, former deputy chief of general staff for operations in the SPLA-IO, Major General Peter Gatdet Yak, said he was ready to return to president Kiir’s government if his demands were met.

He demanded withdrawal of foreign forces from South Sudan as well as assurance that free and fair elections will be conducted in the country.

“Peace can be established and the fighting can end once the occupation of the foreign forces is over and leave and the people of South Sudan…given the right to choose their own destiny and establish their own choice of government and governance,” Yak demanded on Saturday.

He made the comments during an interview with Sudan Tribune in one of his hiding places, presumed to be somewhere at South Sudan-Sudan border, where he moved after being ejected from Pagak following his defection from Machar.

His ambition remains the subject of speculations. Many military sources from his Bul clan, the largest section in the Nuer ethnic group in Unity state, claimed he was seeking a deal which would make him a deputy commander-in-chief of the government forces, effectively reviving the position previously created for late General Paulino Matip Nhial, who became second in military command after president Kiir.

Late Nhial integrated his forces into the South Sudanese army (SPLA) in 2006 and in compliance with the provision of Juba declaration agreement. He died in 2011 but his non-constitutional position has never been filled.

Yak on the other hand has led an extremely notorious life since embarking on military career. His followers have been responsible for the deaths of thousands during the devastating civil war between south and north Sudan.

He switched allegiances on the battlefields, fighting first for the Sudanese army in which he allegedly received millions in cash and weaponry from Khartoum in defence of oil fields before crossing back to the SPLA.

A presidential aide said his envoy met with president Kiir recently at the presidential palace and, possibly, other senior leaders to try to seal a deal for his return.

The president’s office did not deny or confirm that the meetings had taken place. One legislator from his ethnic Nuer said the talks were part of community initiative within the framework of comprehensive peace agreement and in the context of an “internal dialogue” that pointedly excludes IGAD, a regional bloc which has been a key mediator for the peace talks.

“If IGAD member countries, especially Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya want peace, then this is the only way. They should help us and support to engage in an internal dialogue as brothers and sisters. They should not impose peace on us, after all, we are the same people who have issues to discuss and should be the same people to find a solution to our differences through peaceful dialogue. It is not the IGAD, not even the America and her allies to decide what are good or bad for us,” said a South Sudanese member of parliament in Juba.

He criticized the performance of the IGAD mediation team and claiming the “real authority” during negotiation period was with the American special envoy and not mediating team.

General Yak defected together with Major General Gathoth Gatkuoth, Major General Gabriel Tanginye and other Brigadier Generals including Gatwech Puoch and Chuol Gekah. Their political leader was alleged to be Gabriel Changson Chang, former chairperson for finance committee in the opposition faction.

The disgruntled commanders said their reason for defection was lack of seriousness from their former leader, Machar, to effectively fight the war against president Kiir’s government, vowing to continue to fight against both the government and Machar’s faction.

Other sources however said the commanders with their political leader, Changson Chang, were lured by the government’s chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, with a fictitious project to remove both president Kiir and opposition leader, Machar, so that the officers could for a transitional government without the two leaders.

(ST)