Odwar ‘not a power-hungry’ politician – Gen. Gatjiath

JUBA – The spokesman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) Kitgwang faction, Brigadier General William Gatjiath Deng has dispelled claims on social media that former South Sudan minister of mining Henry Odwar left First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny to seek for power.

Odwar in August resigned as minister of mining and then declared his allegiance to General Simon Gatwech Dual, the former chief of general staff who broke away with an SPLM-IO faction from Machar in early August following a three-day gathering of top opposition commanders.

Since then, social media users who support First Vice President Machar have been accusing Odwar of being a power-hungry politician who left Machar’s main armed opposition faction to seek for power in the faction led by General Simon Gatwech Dual who has since expressed interest in continuing the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

However, speaking to Sudans Post in an exclusive interview this morning, Brigadier General William Gatjiath said Odwar is an open-minded politician who is not seeking for power, but for end to the suffering of the people of South Sudan saying describing him as a power-hungry politician is disrespect to those making efforts to fix the country.

“Of course H.E Henry Dilah Odwar is not like those in Juba. In the first place, he is a renowned politician who was based in Canada and he came and was elected as a lawmaker in a landslide victory during the 2010 elections. He competed with many others and he was elected as a member of parliament in South Sudan,” General Gatjiath said.

“He is not a power-hungry politician and describing him as such is disrespectful for us the people who are pushing for reforms in the Republic of South Sudan. So, I assure you that he is not like those only seeking for power and you will see how he will manage the SPLM-IO political affairs together with Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual,” he added.