Brigadier General Solomon Peter Angelo Ihile (Radio Tamazuj photo)
A top Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) General last week abandoned Dr. Riak Machar’s outfit and joined the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) under president Salva Kiir.
Brigadier General Solomon Peter Angelo Ihile was the head of administration for SPLA-IO Anyanya Division at the Achwa Cantonment Site before he moved to the Rambur Unified Training Center. He defected from the training center to SSPDF in Lirya Payam of central Equatoria state.
Gen. Ihile is the first senior opposition military officer in Eastern Equatoria State to desert Dr. Machar for the SSPDF since the 2013 crisis.
In a statement declaring his defection, Gen Ihile wrote, “Having observed with grave concerns political and military fragmentation within SPLA/M (IO) for a long time, it has now come to our genuine conclusion that SPLM/A-IO is no longer relevant with political realities for which it was formed. The SPLM/A-IO has lost direction and command of the forces.”
The statement added: “It’s therefore, against this backdrop, in the interest of implementation of Sept 12 / 2018 agreement and in the Spirit of ensuring stability and our love for our country of South Sudan that we are hereby declaring our defection from the SPLM/A-IO with effect from September 07, 2021.”
Gen. Ihila’s statement he will work with the SSPDF to ensure that troops that have been abandoned in bushes without food, shelter, and medicine are promptly recognized and integrated into the SSPDF.
Sounded out by Radio Tamazuj, he said, “There are many reasons that make people defect from the opposition to the government. The opposition is not capable and failed to take care of its soldiers. All the soldiers have scattered and even in barracks, soldiers are suffering and the children of soldiers are suffering in their houses. I have decided to defect because I have seen there is a failure in SPLA-IO. That is why I see I should go back home to work together with my brothers.”
He said staying in the bush had lost meaning and cited the defection of the SPLA-IO’s former Chief of Staff, Gen. Simon Gatwich Dual who he said also defected.
For his part, SPLA-IO spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel confirmed the defection and said it was against the spirit of implementing the peace agreement because the SPLA-IO and SSPDF are peace partners who are going to have a unified command and that there was no need for defections.
“His defection from Rambur Training Center in Juba to SSPDF in Lirya is not right. First of all, he is among the first batch of which if they graduated, they would be the first people to administer this south Sudan but now he has returned himself backward. Even if he goes elsewhere, these forces will still be unified so this is not good. It is a violation of the peace agreement,” Col. Lam said.
He acknowledged that forces, including the SSPDF, are facing several challenges including hunger but said it did not warrant desertion.
“This is a clear violation, it is not good. I know there are conditions in different barracks and centers, there is hunger, suffering, and death,” Col. Lam said. “It is not only our soldiers there but even government soldiers are also suffering. If you want peace, patience is good. Suffering is everywhere and there is no happy South Sudanese, we are all suffering as soldiers and civilians. This is a big violation.”
Newer articles:
- Funding crunch forces WFP to slash food assistance in South Sudan - 13/09/2021 10:11
- Opinion | A reflection on the 3 years since the signing the South Sudan peace agreement - 13/09/2021 04:21
- African economies place bet on bullet trains for growth - 13/09/2021 02:19
- Royal Thai Army condoles with family of soldier who died in South Sudan - 12/09/2021 20:42
- FIFA pledges South Sudan support, with focus on female youth - 12/09/2021 08:00
Older news items
- Group hopes to give S. Sudan family a better life in the Okanagan - 11/09/2021 17:03
- UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations will conclude working visit to South Sudan - 11/09/2021 14:10
- Political and security discussions dominate meeting between UN peace chief and South Sudan’s President - 11/09/2021 07:36
- UNMISS Concerned About Suffering Women and Children in Tambura, Appeals for Leaders to Intervene - 11/09/2021 06:00
- African Development Bank pledges greater support for East African integration process - 11/09/2021 05:30
Latest news items (all categories):
- علاقة عقيمة من طرف واحد - 12/04/2024 01:25
- Press Release - International poetry initiative seeks poems on African experiences of migration - 04/04/2024 23:28
- South Sudan oil revenue dwindles - 31/03/2024 00:46
- The decline of Equatoria and emergence of Jieng tribal power in South Sudan - 30/03/2024 23:10
- Both SPLM-IG's No-extension and SPLM-IO's Extension Proposals are all means for No 2024 Elections - 24/03/2024 23:14
Random articles (all categories):
- Sudan, China Discuss Oil Dispute - 28/02/2012 15:06
- South Sudan may resort to trucking oil if talks fail - defenceWeb - 23/01/2013 08:33
- United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Supports Prison Refurbishments in Tonj North, Boosting Law and Order - 24/10/2022 08:02
- Most countries with the greatest burden of HIV still don't recommend dolutegravir for all - 18/07/2021 08:05
- South Sudan: Security Council Extends UN Peacekeeping Force in Abyei Through February 2015 - 15/10/2014 07:24
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 30834 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 21842 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 20727 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 17215 times
- With prisons full, South Sudan to introduce mobile courts to clear backlog of cases - 11/10/2012 11:29 - Read 14198 times