Former Minister for Irrigation and Water Sources, Mabior Garang de Mabior, has called on the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) to intervene in the ongoing deadlock between Kit-Gwang faction led by Gen. Simon Gatwech and the SPLM/A-IO led by the First Vice President Dr Riek Machar Teny.

Mabior took to social media yesterday saying that there was a possibility to iron out the stand-off, citing the 73^rd Extraordinary Session of the IGAD Council of Ministers that called for SPLM-IO “to put their house in order.”

“A humble appeal to the President of the Republic of South Sudan, fellow South Sudanese, join me in this humble call on President Salva Kiir to intervene in the violent split within the SPLM-IO, which threatens to unravel the little semblance of an Agreement we have in our nascent Republic,” he said in his Facebook post.

“There is an opportunity to resolve this split peacefully. This opportunity comes in the form of the Communiqué of the 73rd Extraordinary Session of the IGAD Council of Ministers. The Communiqué calls -among other things-for the SPLM-IO ‘to put their house in order’’.

According to Dr John Garang’s son, the conflict in question fuels communal violence in Greater Upper Nile State. He warned that if not contained, the violence might spread to other parts of the country.

“The mischief in the SPLM-IO has resulted in communal violence in Western Equatoria State. It also continues to cause communal violence in Greater Upper Nile Region. If these dark forces in our land are not stopped, this violence threatens to engulf the entire country in another cycle of senseless violence,” he stressed.

“There is a real opportunity in the aftermath of the Kit Gwang Declaration to reboot the stalled Security Arrangements. It is an opportunity to negotiate honest Security Arrangements which would build trust between the parties. These new Security Arrangements need not be part of a new Agreement, it can be added as an addendum to the already existing Agreement.”

Peace Mission                                                     

Mabior met Kiir in November and vowed to liaise with the government to ensure that the peace process is running smoothly.

He apologised to the government and the people of South Sudan for any slip of a tongue, either on social media or elsewhere.

 “…Mabior Garang De Mabior said he is going to join hands with the leadership and people of South Sudan to collectively seek ways of contributing to peace and stability for the Nation,” read the statement posted by the office of the President upon his meeting with the President.

 “Furthermore, Mabior Garang De Mabior apologised to H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the people of South Sudan for any statement that he might have said on the media against H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the Nation.”

Mabior returned to Juba after he was invited by the President, a decision strictly criticised by a huge population quoting his previous statement that he would not return to Juba without the full implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).

Mabior was in Nairobi since his resignation from the position of Deputy Minister of Interior, due to what the office of the President called “political reasons.”

Out of Kit Gwang

An official from the Kit Gwang declaration was quoted by Sudans Post as saying that Mabior was no longer a member of their faction (Kit Gwang declaration) after his Juba visit.

“Yes the movement under Simon Gatwech is aware that Mabior Garang de Mabior has decided to return to Juba on his own, but he was not authorised by the Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA-IO to return to Juba,” the official said. 

He was viewed to have joined the Kit Gwang faction when he defended Kit Gwang declaration that it was not for war against Machar’s forces in an interview with Political Education Podcast under National Conversation South Sudan (NCSS) in August.

“What we need is the implementation of the security arrangement for peace so that we can all go home and build our broken lives; the issue is not the leadership of Dr Riek Machar,” Garang said.

“The Kit-Gwang declaration is another chance for peace, real peace in South Sudan engine is in the implementation of the security arrangement the rest have nothing much.”

He called for the security arrangements to be put in place in order for the Kit Gwang faction to observe the IGAD communiqué of the Council of Ministers on the 73^rd extraordinary meeting.

“The Kit-Gwang declaration is committed to facilitating the implementation of the security arrangement and bringing political stability to our country,” he said.