Gatwech says Kiir, Machar preparing for another war, but pretending to be working together

JUBA – South Sudan opposition commander and leader of the breakaway SPLA-IO Kitgwang faction Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual has said that President Salva Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny are pretending as if they are working together in Juba, saying the two kill when they disagree.

“You can have President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar sit together in Juba and pretend to be working together.  That is not true. These people were in the same government from 2005 to 2013, but when they disagreed, the country went down in flames. They were together in 2015, but when they could not agree on how to unify the forces, they took the country back to war in 2016,” he said in an interview with Sudan Tribune.

“Some people like Thomas Cirillo, Pagan Amum, Paul Malong and others are now not in Juba. We are also not in Juba because the forces in Juba are not the national army. They are forces loyal to individual leaders and that is why when politicians disagree on policy matters, the soldiers take sides and the country goes into war,” he added.

The opposition commander who is also under UN sanctions said the two men in Juba are not implementing the agreement, but distributing positions without addressing the root causes of the conflict.

“These days, what they are doing is actually not implementation of the peace agreement which we have signed with them. They are not implementing the peace agreement which is keeping Riek in Juba. The peace agreement they are talking about is the distribution of positions of the government and leaving out the root causes of the conflict,” Gatwech said.

“They are talking and recruiting people to go with them. Riek is recruiting and Salva Kiir is doing the same. That is not the implementation of the peace agreement,” he explained.

PREPARATION FOR ANOTHER WAR

Gatwech further said Kiir and Machar are preparing for another war, saying that the two men are recruiting to their rank and file and urged Sudan to intervene and help in the implementation process of the revitalized peace agreement.

“That is a preparation for another war. Now, there are still forces with officers maintaining separate command and reporting lines. Sudan should intervene in this issue and talk to them [Kiir and Machar] to stop recruitment and implement the agreement,” he said.