Pagan says SSOMA will overcome internal disagreements  

WASHINGTON – Prominent South Sudan opposition leader Pagan Amum Okiech has said that South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) will overcome differences that are now threatening the unity of the group at the Rome talks.

This comes a day after one of the groups making up the opposition consortium said Amum is no longer a member of SSOMA because he has declined to endorse, unlike other members, the group’s charter.

In recent days, the Alliance appeared to be in internal power struggle after some members of the Alliance purported to have suspended the membership of South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) led by General Paul Malong.

In an exclusive interview with Sudans Post on Monday, Amum who is also the leader of the Real-SPLM – one of the holdout groups that constitute the SSOMA – said peace talks in Italy will resumed on Friday.

He however admitted that there are differences within the alliance, but said those differences will be resolved before the resumption of the Rome process.

“The peace talks will start on the 9th of October and I believe that the small disagreement within SSOMA will be solved and SSOMA will attend the talks united,” Amum said.

The opposition leader further denied that he has declined to endorse the Alliance’s charter saying his group is engaging other members of the Alliance in solving the issues that are threatening the group’s unity.

“The Real-SPLM is an active member of SSOMA and it is engaged with its partners in solving and overcoming the challenges facing SSOMA as well as in the search for a just peace and transition to democracy and stability in South Sudan,” he said, before adding: “We have no problem with our Charter.”