James Kok Ruea abandons Machar, rejoins Kiir

JUBA – South Sudan opposition politician and member of the transitional parliament James Kok Ruea has declared his intention to abandon the SPLM-IO to return to the SPLM faction under President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

Speaking to reporters at Pyramid Hotel this afternoon, James Kok said he has been betrayed by the SPLM-IO chairman Dr. Riek Machar Teny because his expectation to effect change in South Sudan through the SPLM-IO has not been realized.

“I thought we will be able to implement what they call in the SPLM-IO ‘reform agenda’ and this is why I joined the SPLM-IO under Dr. Riek Machar in 2020. But these promises of reforms have turned out to be daylight dreams,” he said.

“So, I decided that it was better to return to the mother SPLM and I thank the leadership of his excellency the President of the Republic General Salva Kiir Mayardit for welcoming me and my team to the SPLM party again,” he added.

When contacted by Sudans Post, senior SPLM-IO official and close ally to First Vice President Machar, Dut Majokdit, said James Kok had joined the SPLM-IO expecting a ministerial position and his return to the SPLM is the frustration he had after he failed to achieve the dream of getting a ministerial position in the SPLM-IO.

“The expectation to become a minister of peace-building or the first deputy speaker of the Council of States has failed and then he decided to shift his allegiance to the SPLM under President Salva Kiir after he was appointed to the parliament on the ticket of the SPLM-IO,” Majokdit said.

“We have to focus on the reform agenda under the leadership of First Vice President H.E Dr. Riek Machar Teny because we are not for power. We are for the real of agenda reform,” the senior opposition official said.c