April 18, 2020 (Nyamilepedia) — The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) mission in the Arab Republic of Egypt has disowned a group of 100 people who said they were previously members of the main armed opposition group and were defecting to join President Salva Kiir.
In a statement on Thursday, a group of 100 people said they were defecting to join senior SPLM-IO members led by former South Sudan petroleum minister Dak Duop Bichiok who defected on Wednesday to join Kiir’s side.
But in a counter statement on Friday, Both Yich Yat, the SPLM-IO Chapter Chairperson in Cairo said around 80% of the people listed were not members of the group there and as such condemns the action which he said was meant to tarnish the name of the SPLM-IO in order to portray it as a failing party.
“We are hereby condemning in the strongest terms possible, the defection of ordinary civilians who were not members or part of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM-IO), here in the Arab Republic of Egypt,” Both said.
“We are denouncing their allegations, because they have used the name of the People’s Movement, as their previous Political Party in the defectors’ statement, which was circulated yesterday on Social Media, while they were not our comrades,” the SPLM-IO official added.
He said almost all of the people who defected were not SPLM-IO members and instead belongs to the Federal Democratic Party (FDP) led by Changson Gabriel Chang.
“80% of those who have announced their defection yesterday to the SPLM-IG with Hon. Dak Duop Bichiok, were not registered in the official files of the SPLM-IO in the Arab Republic of Egypt,” he said.
“They were members of the Federal Democratic Party (FDP) of Hon. Changson Lew Chang since 2018 [and as such are] supposed to announce their defection from their exact Political Party to the SPLM-IG, instead of the People’s Movement led by visionary leader, the First Vice-President, H.E Dr. Riek Machar Teny – Dhurgon,” he said.
Both further said some of the defectors are “refugees who have resided in Egypt for about 14 years … and have no more knowledge about how the war has deteriorated the Country, and they are those who have no perception about the massacres which were prepetrated by the Regime since DEC-2013.”
He added that some whose names appeared in the defector’s list were not consulted terming it as “absolutely wrong.”
