SPLA-IO generals gather in Bentiu to counteract defection of top commander

BENTIU, OCTOBER 10, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – Senior opposition military officers belonging to South Sudan’s main armed opposition SPLA-IO gathered on Monday in Unity State’s capital Bentiu and Leer County to reaffirm their support for First Vice President Riek Machar, the group’s leader.

This comes after the defection of five senior SPLA-IO commanders led by the group’s former sector two head, Gen. Simon Maguek Gai, to the ruling SPLM faction and South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) under President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Juba on Saturday.

The meeting in Dingding was chaired by SPLA-IO Sector Two Commander Maj. Gen. George Gatthouy Thak and Division 4A commander General Turuk Khor Kuai, while the meeting in Leer’s Muom cantonment areas was charged by the groups division 4B commander Maj. Gen. Stephens Gatgok Khor Riaka.

In a statement following the meeting, SPLA-IO sector spokesman Major Kerbino Yai Pazale said that the group’s commanders in Unity State held two separate meetings, one in Dingding and the other at Muom Payam, another cantonment site for the SPLA-IO, to reaffirm their loyalty to the SPLA-IO.

“The outcome of the two separate consultation meetings resulted in the disowning of the defection of Lt. Gen. Simon Maguek. The men who were in the battlefield expressed their attitude that the strong and powerful SPLA-IO as a people’s movement is still in the right direction. Maguek has lost ground forces in Unity state Bentiu,” the statement said.

“Simon Maguek is a former sector two commander three years ago. The same is true of Maj. Gen. Samuel Dok Wanjang, who was is former 4th (B) commander four years ago. Even now, their bodyguards have reported themselves into our SPLA IO different garrisons respectively,” the statement added.

The statement further reiterated the SPLA-IO’s commitment to the implementation of South Sudan’s revitalized peace agreement signed by their leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir in September 2018.

“The sector two SPLA-IO is supporting peace and harmony in South Sudan and all of the people of Unity state Bentiu,” it said.

“The sector two SPLA-IO shall not and will never attempt to take you back to a tragic situation or war, because the defection of Simon Maguek does not make division between us. The same is true of the SSPDF, which will never take you back into mayhem,” it added.