JUBA – At least 94 members of a splinter faction of the armed opposition movement (SPLA-IO) have joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), an official announced on Friday.
The SPLM Secretary for Political Affairs and Mobilization, Santo Malek Anai said the 94 SPLM-IO Kit Gwang faction members voluntarily crossed to the country’s ruling party.
“It is their voluntary decision to come back to their mother party, what we are doing is part of implementation of the peace agreement,” Anai said during a ceremony at the SPLM house in Juba.
“It is the right decision to take at this particular time as we move towards general elections. It has nothing to spoil the implementation of the peace agreement. This declaration tells the world SPLM has something to do for this country,” he added.
The SPLM Secretary for Central Equatoria State, Mary Apayi said the party has been strengthened with the defection of the opposition members ahead of general elections slated for December 2024.
“SPLM is a historic party. The decision taken by the cadres to join the mother party will make SPLM great again. We will all have to work for the party,” she stated.
The SPLA-IO Kit Gwang group broke away from SPLA-IO led by Riek Machar after accusing him of not representing their interests, lack of implementation of the security arrangements, poor governance and nepotism. Since then, forces loyal to both camps have been fighting in Upper Nile State areas.
