SPLM-IO disowns Unity State defectors

BENTIU – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), the primary armed opposition led by First Vice President Riek Machar, has publicly disavowed a faction of its members who recently defected to the ruling SPLM faction under President Salva Kiir in Unity State.

Gany (Magany) Chiok, former SPLM-IO chairperson in Guit County, made the announcement on Monday in Guit, stating that he and 15 other officials were defecting to the SPLM-IG, alleging that the SPLM-IO had strayed from its founding vision.

“We are sixteen members, and the reasons why we have decided to defect from Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition SPLM-IO was because we were abandoned without a clear mission, mandates, and updates,” Chiok asserted.

However, Dhoal Koryom Lingling, spokesperson and chairperson of the SPLM-IO information committee in Unity State, refuted the claim in an interview with Sudans Post on Tuesday.

Lingling who is formerly the SPLM-IO commissioner of Rubkona County dismissed the defectors’ affiliation with the SPLM-IO, noting that Chiok had defected during a period when South Sudan was still structured under 32 states.

“I am here disputing the claim by the SPLM-IG, which is our partner in the agreement and the government of the state. The claim that 15 members of the SPLM-IO defected and joined the SPLM-IG is basically not true,” Lingling stated.

He elaborated, “In fact, one of our members by the name of Magany Chiok served as an administrative officer under the SPLM-IO when we were working under the government or the administration of Liech State when the country was divided into 32.”

Lingling clarified that Chiok’s actions should not be interpreted as defection, as he was not a member of the SPLM-IO’s political leadership but rather a civil servant who had been serving under the ministry of local government before the formation of the unity government.

“So, Magany was our member, and he has decided to switch allegiance to become a member of the SPLM-IG. We don’t regard it as defection since Magany is not a member of the political leadership of the SPLM-IO,” he said.

“Instead, Magany is a civil servant who was serving under the ministry of local government, and if he decided to switch allegiance, it shouldn’t have been taken seriously,” Lingling asserted.

He further said that “there is no huge number of that kind that has defected with him. He is one person, and he is an administrative officer, and we don’t regard him as someone who has defected since he is normally a civil servant who is not a member of the political leadership of the SPLM-IO.”