SPLA-IO chief General Gatwech Dual tells IGAD peace deal is ‘dead’, threatens to redeploy forces

KHARTOUM – The military chief of South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, General Simon Gatwech Dual has said that the revitalized peace agreement is dead, according to a letter addressed to the regional bloc, IGAD, which mediated the revitalized peace agreement.

The powerful military chief also requested in the letter that IGAD allow Dr. Machar to travel to the SPLA-IO military headquarters to consult and brief the SPLA-IO military on the status of the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“The Military High command’s leadership (MHCL) of the SPLA (IO) has learned that the ongoing peace agreement in Juba has a lot of complications and inherited some sorts of procrastination which are debilitating the implementation of the agreement especially, the security arrangements which is the most paradigm that should have been solved in the first month prior to the agreement,” General Dual said in the letter extended to Sudans Post.

“However, I have written an appeal to South Sudan peace guarantors Troika, AU and IGAD to accept our request as a movement that the Chairman and Commander in Chief (C-in-C), First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, should be given a chance in order to meet and brief the SPLA (IO) Military Leadership (ML) about the status of the peace in the GHQs,” he said.

he said despite the commitment and good faith shown by Dr. Machar who is now the First Vice President, the regional bloc has kept quite to the ongoing reluctance of the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit to implement most contentious parts of the agreement.

“It’s clear that Dr. Machar went to Juba in February for conditions building and pushing the agreement to work without hindrances but as a result, the regime in Juba is playing tricks to mislead both African peace actors, IGAD, AU and the wider international community,” he said.

He threatened to deploy over 41,000 SPLA-IO forces in the country in accordance with the 2018 peace agreement or otherwise the entire peace agreement will be considered dead echoing the return to war.

“Undoubtedly, the current peace deal in South Sudan is deteriorating and slowly moving towards passimisive ending while peace guarantors are crossing legs and watching without action,” Dual said.

“The SPLA-IO forces comprising of 41,000 troops are ready now to move anytime and must be deployed in the three regions Equatoria, Upper Nile and Bahr el Ghazal as per the agreement, or otherwise the peace is dead,” he concluded.