Malong to dispatch representatives to Juba, declare number of forces

JUBA – South Sudan rebel leader and former army chief Gen. Paul Malong Awan Anei will in the second week of August send his representatives to the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) in the capital Juba and will declare the size of his forces by August 1^st.

This revelation is made weeks after five opposition holdout groups including General Paul Malong’s  South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) declared their rejection for extension of the transitional period and called for a government of technocrats to “rescue our country from total collapse.”

Speaking to Sudans Post in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Dickson Gatluak Jock Nyuot, the head of the SSUF/A for administration and finance and the designated representative of SSUF/A to the CTSAMVM said the formation of an alliance such as NSSSOG do not prevent the SSUF/A or Real-SPLM from carrying out its activities and commitments signed in Rome.

“The newly-formed alliance of NSSSOG has got no problem with the inclusion of R- SPLM and SSUF/A to CTYSAMVM. This simply doesn’t affect the Rome Declaration of Recommitment to COHA, the Rome Declaration and the Rome Resolution,” Gen. Gatluak told Sudans Post.

“As SSOMA under General Paul Malong and Pagan Amum, we are still recommit to respect and adhere to the cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 21^st December 2017.This is the reason why we are not fighting the government today. We are observing the ceasefire unless the situation is provoked,” he added.

He said that the “The new alliance was formed with the objective of bridging the bitter divisions within the South Sudanese opposition groups. To me, it is a necessary condition for the oppositions to come together.”

He said the Rome communiqués signed by SSOMA and the government of South Sudan provides for the appointment of opposition representatives to the peace monitoring CTSAMVM and that the SSUF/A will dispatch its representative to Juba by August 15 and will declare the number of its forces by August 1^st.

“The final communiqué on CTSAMVM Induction Training Course that was done in Rome, Italy, 30^th June 2022, we all agreed that SSOMA shall start the deployment of its representatives into the CTSAMVM structures by August 15^th and this is happening next month,” he said.

“For that reason, I am going to Juba on August 15^th as agreed in Rome and my going to Juba is now being facilitated by CTSAMVM, IGAD and Sant’Egidio,” he said.

“Finally, SSOMA and particularly the South Sudan United Front/Army, SSUF/A under General Paul Malong Awan is going to declare the size and the location of its forces across South Sudan to CTSAMVM within this week before August 1^st, 2022,” he added.

He said this will “show commitment on our side and we are doing this purposely to ensure full compliance of what has been agreed in Rome , So expect my coming to Juba in August with my team.”