Pagan, Cirilo suspend Malong from holdout opposition alliance

JUBA – The South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) has said that it has suspended the membership of South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) led by General Paul Malong Awan for “breaching the spirit of comradeship and trust.”

In a statement on Friday, SSOMA said Malong had established a separate communication channel between his group and the Sant’Egidio Community in Rome which is hosting talks between the government and the alliance.

“In its extraordinary meeting held on the 25th September 2020 SSOMA-LC have discussed and with majority vote decided to suspend SSUF/A because of breach of (the) communication channel of SSOMA and the spirit of comradeship and trust within the Alliance,” the statement said.

It asserted that the decision is executed “with immediate effect.”

The latest development comes a few days after Malong who is the former South Sudan army chief of staff fired his spokesman Dr. Sunday De John for allegedly leaking classified documents to teh National Security in Juba.

Sunday however denied the accusation and said Malong is behaving in a dictator’s way adding that his removal from his position was a conspiracy against him by Malong a few close aides.

Malong’s suspension also comes at a crucial time as the government and the holdout opposition alliance are about to resume talks halted in January due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.