Ex-South Sudan army general forms new rebel movement
March 6, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s former deputy chief of staff for logistics, Lt. General Thomas Cirillo Swaka has formed a new rebel group, opposed to the Juba regime under President Salva Kiir.
“The National Salvation Front (NAS) is convinced that to restore sanity and normalcy in our country, Kiir must go, he must vacate the office without further bloodshed,” he wrote on Monday.
The former army official vowed to ensure all means are used to restore law, order and ensure respect for human rights in the country.
NAS, it leader said, strongly advocates for national co-existence, ideals of free, sovereign and a democratically-governed nation.
“Thus, with a clear conscience and with determination, we declare the birth of a citizen-imposed change,” partly reads Swaka’s letter.
The former army officer said his rebel movement would respond to the call for unified resistance against President Kiir’s government, using all means that would be available, feasible and effective.
“It is in this spirit of dedication to the cause of our people that I, General Thomas Cirillo Swaka, on behalf of the National Salvation Front, solemnly declare the launching of the National Salvation Front (NAS) on this 6th Day of March, 2017,” further noted the letter.
The new rebel movement, said Swaka, will vigorously use all means at its disposal after the Juba regime created a “highly selfish class that ensures its continued existence for the singular purpose of illicitly amassing personal and family wealth”.
The former top military said the objective of the regime to amass resources at the expense of development and the common goal.
In a six-page letter issued last month, Swaka claimed the country was dominated by Dinka tribe and the army turned into a tribal militia that “targets non-Dinka ethnicities”.
(ST)