Kiir aims at weakening Machar by signing deal with Gatwech, conflict watchdog says

JUBA (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit was aiming at weakening the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) by signing a peace agreement with the breakaway former SPLA-IO former chief of staff General Simon Gatwech Dual, a group said Friday.

In a report on Friday, the International Crisis Group, said the Khartoum Peace Agreement between President Kiir and opposition commanders, General Simon Gatwech Dual, and General Johnson Olony Thabo, was aimed at weakening opposition leader and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny.

“On 16 January 2022, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir entered into a pair of agreements with two powerful opposition commanders who had recently broken away from Kiir’s rival, Vice President Riek Machar,” the group said in the report seen by Sudans Post.

“The main deal provides for integration of the commanders’ forces into the national army. A separate accord aims to resolve a longstanding boundaries dispute that has put the ethnic Padang Dinka and Shilluk at loggerheads over the city of Malakal in Upper Nile state,” it says.

The report adds: “While seemingly positive steps, both agreements aim to weaken Machar. The deal to integrate the splinter faction into the army was especially damaging: it undercut the tottering 2018 peace accord and sparked clashes between Machar loyalists and splinter cadres.”

The report proposed that Machar and Kiir come to gather and develop a realistic plan for the reunification of the rival forces in order to avoid further conflict which could be deadly than ever.

“To mitigate the risk of spiraling violence, regional leaders should press Kiir and Machar to come to agreement on a force integration plan that accounts for both sides’ interests while taking steps to rein in the size of the military,” the report said.

“As for Malakal, these leaders should urge Kiir and Machar to press ahead with facilitating the much-needed community dialogue stipulated in the new deal,” the report further said.