SPLM-IO unveils new logo, party to change name

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has changed the old SPLM logo to unveil a brand new one with Machar revealing that the group will also change its name.

The main armed opposition group was formed in Nasir in April 2014 following the split of the SPLM party which sparked a deadly violence in the country’s capital Juba after the army, then named Sudan People’s Liberation Army, split along ethnic lines with Nuer mostly supporting Machar and Dinka mostly supporting President Kiir.

Since 2014, the group has been identified as SPLM-IO as several SPLM factions emerged. They include the SPLM-IG under President Salva Kiir, SPLM former detainees, previously led by Pagan Amum but now led by South Sudan’s East African affairs minister Nhial Deng Nhial.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the SPLM General Secretariat in Juba on Saturday, First Vice President Dr. Machar said the changing of the name is one of a many steps the movement is to take in the transformation of the military-political movement.

“This logo is a bird, a bird with a vision because we have a vision. We have a vision that our country must be a prosperous, peaceful, united country. This we must see that this is what we want to take South Sudan to, its people united,” he said.

“We shall change the name of our party when time comes,” he added.