EXCLUSIVE | Details emerge over removal of General Matthew Puljang as Special Forces commander in Unity state

JUBA – Former South Sudan army special division commander General Matthew Puljang Top was removed in April 2020 because of a dispute he had with Presidential Security Advisor Tutkew Gatluak Manimeh over the arrest of ex-division four commander General Stephen Buay Rolnyang, two sources close to him told Sudans Post Thursday.

General Puljang was in April relieved of his duties, according to a letter ordering him to report to Bilpam by former Chief of Defense Forces Gabriel Jok Riak, in April 2020. The circumstances under which he was removed from commanding thousands of forces in Unity state remain unclear.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Thursday, two sources close to the former rebel commander said General Puljang was ordered by General Tut Gatluak to “kill” General Stephen Buay Rolnyang when the army decided to arrest him in 2018 and taken to the capital Juba where he was imprisoned until 2019.

The first source said General Pul was not speaking to Tutkew directly and was speaking through General Manyat Nyaturoah who would then inform General Puljang of new orders. Pull, according to the source, disagreed and said General Buay should not be arrested even because he did nothing wrong. This later angered Tutkew and looked at General Puljang as a pro-general Buay General recommending his removal to General Jok Riak.

“What happened was that General Tut Gatluak told General Puljang to kill finish General Stephen Buay,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “Pul could not agree and this angered Tut and is one of the reasons he was removed in 2019 because they see him as a pro-Buay commander in the area.”

Another source who also confirmed the authenticity of the information said: “General Manyat wanted to kill General Buay even to the moment he was being put on a helicopter; he wanted to find a way to shoot him.”

Contacted by Sudans Post on the account, General Stephen Buay who said he is somewhere in South Sudan currently said “the plan to have me killed began in 2016 and when General Jok Riak was appointed, things even became harder for me. General Pul did not agree with was being done against me and also protected me when I was arrested in 2018.”

“Manyat wanted to shoot me when I was being arrested. I was disarmed and I told my soldiers to remain calm and not fight. Even after my soldiers’ guns were collected, Manyat wanted to find a way to shoot me,” he added.