Juba, South Sudan
August 16, 2021—The Joint Defense Board has called on the SPLM/A-IO forces at cantonment sites to pay deaf hear to anything related to Magenis group and urged them to focus only in the implementation of the peace agreement.
This comes after the two conflicting factions of the SPLM/A-IO were reported to have engaged earlier this morning in Tabaldi.
In a statement seen by Nyamilepedia, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, the SPLA-IO military spokesperson, allied to the First Vice President, said the JDB sent three teams of JDB to cantonment sites to inform them that the presidency is very adamant to bring the Magenis situation under full control.
According to the statement, the JDB urges soldiers to remain far from what they dubbed as “confusing situation in Magenis” and pleading that they should remain committed to the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement signed in September 2018.
“This morning, the JDB Co-Chairs despatched three different teams of members of the Security Mechanisms to the Training Centers as directed by the Presidency to inform the Unified Forces that the incident in Magenis will be handled by the Presidency as soon as possible”, the statement reads.
“The JDB also asked the forces in the training centers to distance themselves from the confusion in Magenis and focus on the implementation of the Security arrangement so that peace is realised in our country”,it lamented.
The Revitalized Unity government is very concerned about the Kitgwang Declaration as they believe that the threat posed by splitter group could derail the peace deal.
Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual declared himself unilaterally as the C-In-C and Chairman of the SPLM/SPLA-IO replacing his Boss, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
Machar travelled to Juba against the military of his military officials and never returned or left the country sparking speculations that he is under house arrest or he might have secretly surrendered to the government without informing his military allies.
The Kitgwang Declaration has sent a strong wave across diaspora leading to defection of many SPLM/A-IO chapters from Machar to Gatwech.
The SPLM/A-IO Juba has lowered its tone and called for dialogue but it remains to be seen if both sides will sit down to resolve their differences.
