Re-integration of ex-rebels starts soon: army spokesperson

August 14, 2017 (WAU) – The re-integration of former armed opposition forces, initially loyal to South Sudan’s former First Vice President, Riek Machar into the national army (SPLA) starts soon, spokesperson Brig. General, Lul Ruai Koang said.

The army official disclosed this on Sunday following the visit of senior military officials to the state. The delegation was in the state to access conditions of the 500 ex-rebels who surrendered in response to the amnesty pardon President Salva Kiir declared in May this year.

President Kiir made the announcement during the official launch of the national dialogue initiative in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.

Koang welcomed the former rebel fighters into the national army.

“We have come to receive them and congratulate them for having taken a positive decision to come and join peace. They [ex-rebels] are mostly from the Luo speakers of Wau state,” stated Koang.

He said the former rebels strongly denounced rebellion and vowed to work with the government for the return of peace and stability.

“For those people still after Dr Riek Machar, he is already not in the game as he is confined in South Africa. All regions have rejected his war attitude as he always causes war in South Sudan,” said Koang.

The military spokesperson said Wau state authorities and the general army headquarters will work with the national government to identify their cantonment sites for them to be reintegrated into the SPLA.

He, however, stressed that their visit to Wau had nothing to do with demoting the former rebels from ranks they held during the war.

Last week, at least 150 former members of the armed opposition forces loyal to Machar returned to Wau town to participate in a peace process organized by the office of South Sudan’s First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai.

The returnees, who included 48 senior high ranking officials from the rank of Lt. Colonel were received by the state security committee at Masana Biira.

Following their arrival, the former fighters assured Wau state authorities that they officially returned home with their weapons in response to a presidential amnesty calling for peace and reconciliation across the country.

The South Sudanese civil war is a conflict in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of attempting a coup d’état. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million displaced in the country’s worst-ever violence after it seceded from Sudan.

(ST)