Gov’t tells holdout opposition groups to unite before Rome talks resume

JUBA – South Sudan government has said that it is concerned over reports of divisions within South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) as talks under the auspices of St. Egidio community in Italy are about to resume.

Speaking to Sudans Post this evening, presidential envoy and spokesman of the government team to the Rome talks, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, said the government is urging the holdout opposition consortium to unite before Rome talks is resumed next week.

“Well the government of  the Republic of South Sudan is very much concerned over those reports of divisions within the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance. For use we are ready, we are just waiting for our visas and soon we will depart the country,” Marial said.

“Because of this issues, we asks our counterparts in the opposition to get it right and unite because if this path is not taken, it may jeopardize the process and it will be very difficult to reach consensus on all the issues that are being discussed there,” he added.

Divisions within the Alliance are widening. Last week, a group of SSOMA leaders said they have suspended General Paul Malong Awan’s South Sudan United Front (SSUF/A) for allegedly communicating to Kiir important opposition secrets.

The opposition officials also said the former South Sudan army chief has opened a separate line of communication with the mediation, which they say undermine the spirit of comradeship between the groups making up the Alliance.

Malong later issued a statement and rejected the movement calling in “null and void.” Days later, Pagan Amum, the leader of the Real-SPLM said he does not recognize the suspension, saying none of the top opposition leaders have met.

In a surprise move this afternoon, Emmanuel Ajawin, who leads one of the groups making up the Alliance said Pagan Amum has been dismissed because he has not signed the Alliance’s charter.