SPLA-IO downplays defection of senior officer to Gatwech

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has downplayed the defection of one of its senior intelligence officers to General Simon Gatwech Dual’s camp.

Earlier this month, SPLA-IO intelligence commander Brig. Gen. Francis Jackson Rock declared his intention to abandon the Machar-led SPLA-IO faction and join the breakaway SPLA-IO faction led by former SPLA-IO chief of military staff General Simon Gatwech Dual claiming no peace is being implemented in Juba.

But the SPLA-IO Division 9A Commander Brig. Gen. James Bashiwin Timon said that General Francis had left his area of deployment for Juba and then proceeded to the Sudanese capital Khartoum where he made the declaration to leave the popular Machar camp.

“This person was here with us as an intelligence officer and he went with permission to go to Juba and Khartoum. All our generals are present here and nobody has defected to any other group,” Gen. Bashiwin said, according to Radio Tamazuj.

“We heard about his defection in Khartoum and want to assure you that he is the only person who made the announcement in Khartoum with no one else,” he added.

The senior SPLA-IO officer further downplayed the defection of Gen. Francis and said all his SPLA-IO colleagues in Western Equatoria state are still in the movement and no one defected with General Francis.

“We as the generals of SPLA-IO are okay because we know that we are at peace with our civilians,” he said, adding that even the local population is aware that the defected SPLA-IO officer has no presence and thus his defection has no effect on the standing of the SPLA-IO in Western Equatoria.