February 12th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – A military general allied to the country’s First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, announced this week that he has resigned from the forces led by the First Vice President.
Brig. Gen. Sebit Kong Kuon said in a statement extended to the Nyamilepedia on Sunday that he has resigned from the former rebel military group saying the FVP himself have been using soldiers for self-interest.
“I, Brigadier General Sebit Kong Kuon Gai, do hereby informing the public that today, on February 10th, declared my defection from Juba after realizing that the SPLM/SPLA-IO under Taban Deng has been using us (soldiers) for self-interest.” Kong said in the statement.
He said they realized that there was no peace agreement being implemented in Juba and the integration process has not been done by the government.
“There was no Peace Agreement (ARCISS) being implemented in Juba. And all we have been seeing is a total daily failure since the time we have landed in Juba,” he said. “The regime for instance has refused to integrate the forces of Mathew Pul Jang Top in Mayom, and same for us here with Taban Deng where nothing is going-on for any integration process.”
He said the government in Juba want them to remain auxiliary forces to be used in supporting the Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) when needed. These use, he said, will be to attack Machar.
“We are in a situation where both sides deceiving one another. Our being in this government is to remain as auxiliary forces and support its deadly JCE agenda by taking the leadership of the SPLA-IO from Riek Machar,” he said.
“There is nothing called integration of SPLA-IO forces into the SSPDF, which is very much a tribal dominated army. We rejected it, instead we were proposed for the unified training for all the forces in South Sudan as a whole,” he added.
