Juba, South Sudan,
August 5, 2021 — Gen. Stephen Buay Rolnyang, a senior military general and former ally to Gen. Paul Malong Awang, has deserted the South Sudan United Front/Army under the leadership of Gen. Paul Malong Awan and formed a new armed rebellion.
In a statement extended to Nyamilepedia, Gen. Buay expresses his stance in solidarity with group that calls itself “The People’s Coalition For Civil Action” which on July 30, 2021 had denounced the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R_TGoNU), citing economic meltdown, lack of payment, rampant corruption and unemployment crisis in the country.
Gen. Buay named his new movement the South Sudan Patriotic Movement /Army (SSPM/A) and declared himself as the interim Commander-In-Chief and Chairman.
He calls on all opposition groups including the defacto interim leader of South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement /Army in Opposition (SPLM/SPLA_IO) under the former Chief of Staff, 1st. Lt. Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual and Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony, to join hands together in ousting president Kiir’s dictatorial regime.
Ge. Buay is promising to work with SSOMA, SPLM/A-IO and other oppositions to oust president Kiir’s regime.
“Considering this political instability in the country, we the officers of SSPDF, national security and other organized forces support the declaration of the People’s Coalition for Civil Action and herby announce to the people of South Sudan that we have taken arms against the regime under the name South Sudan Patriotic Movement /Army (SSPM/A), and we ask all armed citizens in South Sudan to join us and fight for the regime change “, Gen. Buay declared.
” We will form alliance with the other holdout armed groups in SSOMA and SPLA-IO splinter group under General Simon Gatwech Dual to fight for the regime change in the country ” he added in a statement.
Gen. Stephen Buay has been agitated by the unnamed elements from National Congress Party(NPC) whom he accused of working hard to usurp the power in order to reunite the two countries and make the independence struggles useless.
” The NCP group in collusion with some foreign elements are working hard to capture power and to reunite the country and cancel the hard- won independence gains” the statement emphasized.
Gen. Stephen Buay did not reveal any single reason as to why he abandoned Malong’s camp; however, he has tried to respond to many accusations from his Nuer supporters who had concerns on Buay working with Gen. Paul Malong, a man they believe was responsible for Nuer massacres in Juba in December 2013.
In many of his responses, Gen. Buay tried to narrate why it’s important to respect his stand on political ideologies especially on why he refused to join Dr. Riek Machar and instead opted to work with Gen. Paul Malong Awan.
On the other, Malong has lost many senior cadres and young politicians who tried to work under his umbrella including his press secretaries and military generals.
Like Machar and others, the former Chief of Staff has been struggling to put together a strong rebellion as he is being deserted on daily basis leaving doubts if the new rebellions will surely gained momentums.
