South Sudan rebels deny involvement in illegal gold mining to finance war

JUBA, JULY 2, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – The rebel National Salvation Front (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirilo Swaka has dismissed – as ‘empty propaganda’ – a claim by the SSPDF that it is involved in illegal gold mining in some parts of the country to finance its war against the government.

In an interview with The Citizen Newspaper last week, SSPDF spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang claimed that NAS has bought mining equipment and is currently stealing gold in order to funds its war efforts against the government in Juba.

In a statement signed by its spokesman Suba Samuel Manase, NAS condemned and dismissed the claim and said the statements of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces spokesman are meant to justify an upcoming offensive.

“The National Salvation Front condemns the utterances of the SSPDF spokesperson as mere political mudslinging, cheap lies and empty propaganda aimed at smearing the image of the Movement and its leader,” the statement reads in part.

“The utterances are also intended to prepare to defend their upcoming military offensive on villages in NAS-controlled areas,” it alleged.

The statement said the government is trying to catch the attention of the international community against the NAS and said that the world knows that it is the government of President Salva Kiir that is involved in illegal gold mining.

“Without any shred of evidence, Lul Ruai, and indeed the regime of Salva Kiir, is desperately trying to implicate NAS as a people’s Movement by invoking the global call against the illegal extraction of natural resources such as gold for financing conflicts,” the statement said.

Lul Ruai and the clique in Juba should understand that the people of South Sudan, international actors, organizations, and other rational personalities are very much informed and knowledgeable about what is happening in the country to fall for such cheap lies,” the statement added.