Juba, South Sudan,
August 4, 2021 — South Sudan’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has named Gen. Yak Dayiem as the SPLA_IO sector one commander, replacing Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony Thabo who are joining ranks with Lt. Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual to replace Machar.
This comes less than a day after the defiant SPLA-IO chief of staff, Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual dismissed Machar and declared himself as the interim leader of the SPLA_IO appointing Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony as his deputy.
In a statement seen by Nyamilepedia, the SPLA_IO commander Major-General Yak Dayiem has been appointed by Machar as the sector one commander replacing the holdout commander Johnson Olony Thabo.
“General Johnson Olony has joined the rebellion against the cause of the movement led by renegade General Gatwech Dual and as such there is need for a new leadership of the command to be in place,” a senior general on Machar’s side said.
“General Yak Dayiem has now been appointed as the replacement for General Olony. He will be working as the sectorial commander of the Upper Nile region with effect from today,” he added.
The internal crisis within the ranks and files of the SPLM/SPLA-IO have dwindled along since its formation in 2014; however, the problems intensified in 2020 following the disagreements on whether or not Machar should return to Juba before security arrangements were implemented.
The disagreement were further fueled again by the formation of the R-TGoNU of which Machar was accused of prioritizing his family members at the expense of the qualified Cadres.
