Dec 20, 2021 — This audio, which is attributed to a man who identifies himself as Gatluak, a self-proclaimed insider claiming to have been bribed by the Vice President for Infrastructure Cluster, Gen. Taban Deng Gai to assassinate the Presidential Advisor on National Security, Hon. Tut Gatluak Manime and Gen. Joseph Manyuat, narrates a plan to kill that brutally backfires on him and now has his life at stake in the hands of the bodyguards of those whom he allegedly tried to kill.
In summary, the man spoke under extreme physical and mental torture by a group of men who also speak his language, Nuer, and seem to know him including where he lives, his car and other essential information.
Gatluak admits that killing is wrong, pleading that “his people are finished” and he wants his life spared but also blames himself for accepting the offer of $5,000.00 to assassinate top politicians, allegedly, out of fear that president Kiir may never remove them from position of influence anytime soon.
The following lines were extracted from the first 3 minutes of the interview and therefore this is not the full interview. The lengthy interview goes as follow:
Q: Who sent you?
A: It’s Taban.
Q: What did he tell you?
A: He told me [paused], ….
Q: What did he tell you?
A: He told me [paused],…, my brothers, I will tell you.
Q: What did he tell you?
A: He told me [paused], the man called Manyuat, run him over with a car.
Q: How much did he pay you?
A: He paid me $5,000.00 U.S. Dollar. I have this money in the bank.
Q: When was this?
A: This was on November 27th,
Q: What exactly did he tell you?
A: He told me, Manyuat and Tut, kill both of them. My brothers there is no need to kill me. I will tell you everything …. It is not good for me to die. We (Nuer) are finished but please don’t tell Taban that it was said by Gatluak. He [Taban] called me to his house,…but I have a plan. Let me puts some tricks together, I will get you to talk to Taban through my phone.
Q. When did this begin and why?
A: It started on the 25th. He [Taban] said he does not want Manyuat and Tut because Kiir is removing Tut….[warning, please if you reveal this information, my death shall be a curse upon you, please don’t reveal this information]… I have a recording of our [Gatluak and Taban] conversation and I will give this to you. I have it in my house.
Q: I know your house, where exactly is it and in which phone?
A: It is not on the phone but in a small recording in small phone …. [Guards interrupted by ordering more torturing, while the man was being swipped some guards were sent to go and search his house for the recording…]…
This is not the first audio recording that accuses VPSC Taban of such cynical activities. Taban was also a prime suspect behind both 2013 and 2016 dogfights in the capital, Juba. In the former, he was suspected of colluding with Dr. Machar to topple president Kiir and in the later he was suspected of colluding with Gen. Paul Malong Awan, the former Chief of Staff, and President Salva Kiir to eliminate Dr. Riek Machar and his inner circle.
