RSF blockade hinders Gatwech’s attempt to join Nairobi talks – Makuei

JUBA – South Sudan’s information minister Michael Makuei Lueth has said that opposition leader General Simon Gatwech Dual expressed willingness to join peace talks in Nairobi but was unable to attend due to security concerns and a lack of transportation options out of Sudan.

Makuei, who was speaking to reporters during a press conference in Juba on Friday cited road blockage by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in its ongoing advance against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Gatwech, leader of the SPLM-IO Kitgwang faction, was invited in May to participate in the Kenyan-led initiative. According to Makuei, he declined due to concerns about his safety and the absence of a secure route to leave Sudan, where he resides in Rabak, White Nile State.

Makuei, who also serves as the government spokesperson, stated that all non-participating opposition groups had received invitations, with General Gatwech being the only one expressing a desire to attend but encountering obstacles.

“Thomas Cirilo was invited. He wanted to come, but for his own reasons, decided to go to Australia,” Makuei explained.

“Gatwech Dual was invited,” he continued. “He’s the only one who genuinely wanted to come, but he couldn’t make it. He’s in Rabak, and his route to Port Sudan, where he would catch a plane, is blocked by the RSF. The army is not willing to provide him with a helicopter. That’s why he couldn’t come.”

Gatwech resides in Rabak, the capital of White Nile State. His only exit route from Sudan is likely the Rabak-Sennar highway, which the paramilitary RSF blocked last month just before its attack on Sennar State capital Sinja Abdallah.

Makuei further noted that the leader of the National Democratic Movement Patriotic Front (NDM-PF) Emmanuel Ajawin also declined the invitation.

He described him as “a politician in the diaspora” with no military forces and thus not considered a pressing concern.

“We are not forcing anyone to come,” Makuei concluded. “We invite them, and if they have a spirit of nationalism, they will join. If not, we won’t force them. These people have been invited. Anyone who didn’t come, that’s their choice.”