July 13th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – Forces loyal to the country’s First Vice President Taban Deng has not yet been integrated into the South Sudan’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), a military official loyal to the FVP Taban Deng Gai said on Thursday.
In May 2018, the FVP announced that he has dissolved his faction of the SPLM-IO and joined the one under the leadership of President Salva Kiir Mayardiit. His soldiers are also supposed to be integrated to the SPLA as per a 2015 deal Taban claimed was he implementing.
Speaking to the Nyamilepedia on Thursday, Col. Dickson Gatluak Joak Nyuot, the Military spokesman for Taban Deng’s forces said the integration has not yet been completed until now blaming the delayment on financial constraints inflicted by the ongoing civil war.
“The delayment was caused due to financial constraints in the country because the SPLA IO (Taban faction) officers and other Private soldiers are suppose to go for training after the first phase of integration finished but the budget is secured yet. this is one of the reasons,” Gatluak told the Nyamilepedia.
Gatluak said his group is on the process of integration ciprobuyonline.org/ into the army saying it has already presented the list of their officers to Kiir for confirmation.
“We are on the process now to be integrated fully into the national army.As I write to you,the list of our officers to be confirmed is on the table of Gen.Salva Kiir ,the chairman and commander in-chief of SPLA. It would be followed by the deployment after their confirmation,” Gatluak added.
Asked whether the process is a integration or unification of forces Gatluak said “this is an integration process based on the agreement between SPLA-IO chairman Gen.Taban and President Kiir.”
Col. Gatluak still the Spokesman of Taban Deng’s forcesÂ
Gatluak said, after having been asked by the Nyamilepedia whether he is still the spokesman of the First Vice President Taban Deng Gai’s forces, he still maintain the position of the spokesperson for the FVP’s forces.
“I do still carrying on my duty as SPLA-IO Spokesman in the office of first vice president until the integration process of our forces into the national army is finished. There after, I may take another role based on the arrangement with the SPLA GHQS,” he said.
He added that the parties have been reunited but the forces is yet to be reunited.
“The parties are reunited but the military wing is not yet but in process,” he further said.
