SPLA-IO general rejects Sarah Cleto’s removal, orders forces to defy new governor

JUBA – A senior commander of South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, has rejected the removal of former Western Bahr el Ghazal Governor Sarah Cleto and instructed his forces to prevent the new governor from visiting the Greater Jur River region.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit, in a decree read out on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) over the weekend, dismissed Sarah Cleto, an appointee of Machar’s SPLM-IO, and replaced him with Emmanuel Primo Okello, who serves as deputy chairperson of the group’s standing committee at the national secretariat.

Members of the opposition group confirmed that the reshuffle was requested by Machar, with member of the SPLM-IO National Liberation Council (NLC), Dut Majokdit, telling Sudans Post shortly after Sarah’s replacement that Machar formally sought the changes in a letter to Kiir.

But in what appears to be a growing dispute over the replacement, the commander of the SPLA-IO’s 4th Infantry Brigade of Division 6A, Maj. Gen. Majok Thalwa Thalwa, instructed the SPLA-IO forces in Western Bahr el Ghazal in an order dated November 10, 2024, not to welcome the new governor to the Greater Jur River region.

The top opposition commander further warned that those who don’t comply will face disciplinary action, including “military consequences.”

“By order of Maj. Gen. Majok Thalwa, Commander of Brigade Four, Division 6A, Wadalelo HQRS, you are instructed not to welcome the new governor in Greater Jur River County. You are specifically asked not to welcome Governor Emmanuel. Any violation of this order will result in action being taken against you, which could include military consequences,” he added.

Multiple SPLM-IO sources in both Juba and Wau told Sudans Post that there are growing tensions within the group’s local military and political leadership over the removal of Sarah Cleto. One source, for example, claimed that “there are more who oppose the decision by Dr. Riek Machar than those who support it.”

“Even what angers the people a lot is that the decision was made in Juba, and without any consultation with the state and local leadership of the SPLM-IO. So this now becoming very messy as opportunists are taking advantage of the situation to create tensions within the SPLM-IO,” the source continued.