SPLM-IO official says no political space in Northern Bahr el Ghazal

JUBA, JUNE 25, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – A senior official of the main armed opposition SPLM-IO said on Sunday that there is no political space for opposition parties to exercise politics in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state after a member of the ruling SPLM faction was jailed for defecting to SPLM-IO.

On Thursday, South Sudan National Security Service (NSS) arrested Gabriel Bol Dut, former SPLM-IG Secretary for Syndicated Organizations, and detained him a day after declaring that he has defected to the SPLM-IO under First Vice President Riek Machar.

Speaking to Sudans Post this afternoon, SPLM-IO member of National Liberation Council (NLC) Dut Majokdit who is also the chairperson of relief and rehabilitation commission in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state said Bol is being detained and said there is no freedom of association in Northern Bahr el Ghazal.

“Comrade Gabriel Bol Dut is still being held. He is being detained at the National Security Service facility in Aweil town. We call for his immediate release because this is what we put in the revitalized peace agreement,” Dut told Sudans Post from Aweil.

The senior opposition official further said that former SPLM Secretary for Information and Communication Bona Bak Apeny who also declared his allegiance to the SPLM-IO under Machar was hiding as security forces are looking for him and stressed the need for political freedom.

“Bona Bak Apeny, former SPLM IG secretary for information and communication and official Spokesperson, he is on run now. This is a very serious situation for the SPLM-IO, and our comrades are not free,” Dut said.

“There is no political space in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. I don’t know if this is because our opponents fears that we will a free and fair election,” he said, adding that there is need for “an immediate deployment of the necessary unified forces.”