Olony expected in Juba ‘soon’, Agwelek advance team leader says

JUBA – South Sudan opposition commander and chairman of the Agwelek forces General Johnson Olony Thabo is expected in the country’s capital Juba soon, according to the head of the Agwelek advance team in Juba.

Earlier this month, General Olony and leader of the breakaway SPLM-IO Kitgwang faction led by General Simon Gatwech Dual signed a recommitment to the security arrangements with President Salva Mayardit’s government.

The deal paved way for a planned integration of the opposition factions’ forces into South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and an advance team for the two men arrived in Juba last week ahead of their return.

A senior opposition diplomat told Sudans Post in Khartoum this week that Olony and Gatwech won’t return to Juba soon pending a test of if the agreement with Kiir will be implemented in letter and spirit.

But in an interview with Radio Tamazuj, the head of the Agwelek Division advance delegation in Juba, General Paul Achut Nyibek, said Olony will return to Juba soon, without giving a timeline for the opposition leader’s return.

“General Johnson Olony is ready to come to Juba anytime. Especially after the general amnesty that was issued against all the Kit Gwang forces,” General Nyibek said on Thursday.

“So we are here to prepare the way for him to return. As much as we implement this agreement, General Olony will be coming soon to Juba,” he added.