Machar’s group warns ‘attempts’ to return country to 32 states will mark end of deal
First Vice President and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar addresses a press conference jointly with President Salva Kiir (not seen) at the State House in Juba, on February 20, 2020 (Photo: via Getty Images)
JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLM-IO, has warned against any attempt to return the world’s youngest country to the controversial 32 states which were decreed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit initially as 28 states in October 2015.
On October 2, 2015, Kiir in a televised address to the nation divided the country into 28 states (entirely tribal enclaves) saying it is has been a demand of the people of south Sudan, which gained independence in July 2011, since 1947.
In 2017, Kiir increased the number to 32, further sparking tribal sentiment that threatened to prolong the conflict.
The announcement made by the South Sudanese head of state sparked opposition outcry as well as regional condemnations because many including international peace guarantors said the decision violates a peace agreement that was signed less than two months earlier.
In February this year, Kiir was forced to revert the country back to its original ten states after opposition groups threatened to boycott the formation of the Reconstituted Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) provided for in a 2018 peace deal.
This week, rumors surfaced on social media alleging that President Kiir was considering returning the country to 32 states because, according to the reports, the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement won’t go well as some communities still protest the abolition of the 32 states.
Several phone calls and emails to President Kiir’s Press Secretary, Ateny Wek Ateny, were not responded, but two senior government officials confirmed to Sudans Post on Monday afternoon that Kiir is in fact in a mode of returning the country to 32 states.
Contacted by Sudans Post later on Monday, Dut Majokdit, a senior SPLM-IO member in Northern Bahr el Ghazal and a member of the SPLM-IO peace delegates to Juba, said he was not aware of any information such as return to 32 states, but said any attempt to do so would prove Kiir’s unwillingness to achieve peace and would mark end of the revitalized peace agreement.
“I am not aware of this information, but let me tell you that if President Kiir went as far as that, it will be the end of the revitalized peace agreement and the country will definitely return to chaos,” Majokdit said.
The opposition official further urged Kiir’s side to respect the peace agreement and “go on with appointment of General Johnson Olony,” the SPLM-IO nominee for oil-rich Upper Nile state whose appointment has been a subject of controversy between Kiir’s SPLM-IG and Machar’s main armed opposition group.