The Kit Gwang splinter group of the SPLM/A-IO led by Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual has pledged a willingness to dialogue with the government for peace and stability to be realised.
Gatwech and his delegation went to Khartoum last week in response to an invitation by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
According to the national ministry of information, communication, telecommunication and postal services, the South Sudanese delegation led by the Presidential Advisor on National Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak, sat on the negotiation table yesterday with Kit Gwang delegates.
“South Sudan Government delegation comprising of the Presidential Advisor on National Security Affairs Tut Gatluak, Director Generals of Internal Security Bureau, Military Intelligence among other Government officials hold face-to-face talks with the group of breakaway SPLA/IO Kigwang factions in Khartoum Sudan on Tuesday,” read the statement.
“The leader of the SPLA/IO Kitgwang group, Gen. Simon Gatwich Dual, expressed willingness and commitment to dialogue with the government to reach an agreement towards peace and stability,” he added.
James Kalany Mamuon, the press secretary of the Kit Gwang faction released a statement that Gatwech had arrived in Khartoum for peace talks with the government.
“The office of the Press Secretary would like to inform the entire movement that the Chairman and the Commander in Chief, of SPLM/A-IO (Kit-Gwang faction) 1st Lt Gen, Simon Gatwech Dual, accompanied by some senior officers within the SPLA (IO) rank and file, arrived in Khartoum this morning from Magenis on the invitation of the IGAD (Sudan) to attend a face-to-face meeting with the delegation of the Government of South Sudan in Khartoum,” the statement read in part.
The statement disclosed the purpose of the visit being to discuss, “the prospect of peace, the recent fighting in Magenis, and charting a way forward to prevent any future wrangling at the border of Sudan.”
The faction
The Kit Gwang faction was locked in deadly clashes with SPLM/A-IO under Dr Riek Machar, the First Vice President last month at Magenis costing the lives of over 50 people.
Gatwech announced in August 2021, that he had replaced the First Vice President Dr Riek Machar from his position as the chairman and the commander-in-chief of the SPLM/A-IO forces.
Gatwech’s group claimed that the security arrangements were not being implemented as well as abandoning the party responsibilities.
“He [Machar] no longer represents the interest of the wider population in South Sudan – as he has become a part of the national government, compromising fundamental issues, hence his views are not helping the movement [SPLM/A-IO],” they said Tuesday.
“The military command leadership has tasked 1st Lt. Gen. Simon Gatwech as the interim chairman and commander in chief of the movement -immediately he will be the First Vice President,” said Gatjiath.
Ceasefire attempts
In November, Gatwech turned down President Kiir’s call for talks to be transferred to Juba with an interest that the group was interested in the Khartoum talks. The Kit Gwang faction also demanded the positions held by Dr Machar’s movement.
“Well, we met Hon. Tutkew when he came to Khartoum, we discussed the start of the negotiation and he didn’t inform us about that plan,” Kalany said as quoted by Sudan’s Post.
“ But what we stand for is that Sudan is the seat of the IGAD and any plan to have talks moved away from here won’t be accepted by the SPLM/SPLA IO,” he added.
In August, the director-general of information and public relations Pouk Both Baluang disclosed that the Kit Gwang faction had agreed to a ceasefire with the SPLM/A-IO of Dr Riek Machar in a telephone conversation held by Johnson Olony and Dr Riek Machar.
“The breakaway group from the SPLA-IO calling themselves Kit Gwang declaration called Machar twice; they held two phone call discussions, Gen. Johnson Olony is the one who initiated it; he informed Machar about his group’s acceptance for a ceasefire,” said Baluang.
“The discussion was conducted in an amicable atmosphere, Machar told Olony that there is a need to resolve the differences on the incident (clashes) that happened in Magenis in Upper Nile state in a peaceful manner.”
He said the two leaders resolved they would send the commissioner of Panyikang County back to assume his duties.
“The two agreed to send Mustafa Gai, the Commissioner of Panyikang County to his headquarters so that he can assure the people that peace is there, they say they will maintain the communication,” said Baluang.
“As SPLM/A-IO, we believe discussion in a peaceful manner is the only way to address our differences.”