S. Sudan’s former oil minister tasked to bribe SPLA-IO generals – source

JUBA – South Sudan’s former petroleum minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth has been tasked by President Salva Kiir Mayardit to bribe senior SPLA-IO officer in order to0 further weaken Machar, sources close to Gatkuoth told Sudans Post.

One source said from Juba that the recent defections from the SPLM/SPLA (IO) came as a result of months-long negotiations between those officers and Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth who promised them senior positions and benefits in the army.

“All these are the work of Hon. Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth. He is working very hard to consolidate peace in the country and that’s why he has been tasked by the president of the republic to bribe all the senior SPLA-IO generals so that the threat of Riek Machar is no more,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

In recent months, senior SPLM/SPLA (IO) politicians and military commanders have been defecting to President Salva Kiir’s side in protest to the appointment – by Machar – of Angelina Teny as the minister of defense.

Some of them have accused Machar, a powerful politician in the South Sudanese politics, of turning the main armed opposition groups into family enterprise leaving out those who fought for his life from the unity government.