![SPLA-IO General Chief of Staff General Simon Gatwech Dual talks to the press at a cantonment site following his return to Juba on April 25, 2016 [Photo by Charles Lomodong/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/gettyimages-524093192-2048x2048-1.jpg?ssl=1)
JUBA — General Simon Gatwech Dual has reportedly rejected an offer by former South Sudan petroleum minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth worth $20,000, according to a senior opposition official allied to General Gatwech in Khartoum.
The official who requested to remain anonymous because of his relationship with Gatkuoth said the former oil minister when to Khartoum on Tuesday, the day General Gatwech had made a declaration to remove Dr. Riek Machar as SPLM-IO leader, and offered the money without explaining what it was meant for.
“Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth came to Khartoum on Tuesday with 20,000 United States dollars. At that time, General Gatwech was at a meeting in Magenis which led to the Kitgwang Declaration and asked to see Gen. Gatwech Dual immediately because he had a message for him,” the official.
“When he was told that he won’t be able to meet him without explaining the content of his message, he said he has 20,000 that can be used by General Gatwech for medication, but General Gatwech is not sick,” he added.
Gatkuoth has been speculated as an engineer of many defections that have taken place within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
He has been blamed for causing opposition disunity since the return to civil war following the 2016 fighting when forces loyal to Machar clashes with those loyal to Kiir at the presidential palace.
