Gatdet’s forces to be relocated to Lakes state, integrated into SPLA
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By Bonifacio Taban Kuich
September 6, 2011 (BENTIU) - A major rebel group in South Sudan, which
had been based in Mayom county of Unity state, has agreed to relocate
to Mapul county of Lakes state in order to be integrated back in to
South Sudan’s army (SPLA).
JPEG - 49.8 kb
Peter Gatdet (Centre) is welcome by Martin Machot Deng Mayom
commisioner (right) while visiting his troops in Mayom after agreeing
a ceasefire with the SPLA. Sept. 2, 2011 (ST)
Peter Gatdet’s forces, which split from the SPLA earlier this year had
accused South Sudan’s government of being based on corruption and the
domination of the Dinka tribe. Gatdet is from the newly independent
country’s second largest tribe, the Nuer.
Last month Gatdet declared a ceasefire accepting the offer of an
amnesty given by the country’s President Salva Kiir, when he took
office in July.
Bol Gatkuoth the spokesman of the South Sudan Liberation Movement
(SSLM) told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that their forces had agreed to
relocate to Mapel County. Gatkuoth added that the moving out of their
stronghold in Unity state was a clear acceptance of the ceasefire.
“Unity State has been a place for many rebels movements, but our going
out from it will make both SPLA and SSLA to be in realistic peace
talks, and the people of South Sudan shall know we are in acceptance
of the amnesty offered by the president of the Republic of South Sudan
while taking oath on July 9, as the first president of the new state”.
Rebellions, cattle rustling and ethnic conflicts have accounted for
1,500 deaths and 73,000 displaced in South Sudan in recent months a UN
report says.
Gatkuoth said, that South Sudan’s first post-independence cabinet
demonstrated that the government is becoming more representative of
its diverse population, one of the group’s main issues with the Juba
government.
Lack of tribal diversity and leadership skills in South Sudan’s ruling
SPLM were two of the main themes in the rebel group’s “Mayom
declaration”, which outlined their grievances with Juba.
Handing the ministry’s interior and finance to the Greater Equatoria
region gave the government more "balance", he said. He noted that
Unity state still did not have a minister in the cabinet but that
South Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar hails from the oil-rich
state.
As well as the SSLM, the forces of Gatluk Gai have also entered into a
ceasefire with the government in Unity state. However, the armed
groups belonging to Bapiny Monytuel Wijang and Puljang Top have yet to
respond to the president’s amnesty offer.
Unlike Gatdet, most of South Sudan’s rebellions have been triggered by
the contested results of elections in April last year.
Tuonguar Kuey Guong a local chief from Bentiu town told Sudan Tribune
on Tuesday he was shocked at the tactics the other rebel groups have
used in their insurgencies. He said that mining roads in the state had
terrorised civilians.
He strongly called upon the groups still in the bush to follow the
example taken by Gatdet and end hostilities.
Gatdet’s ceasefire has been welcomed at home and in the Diaspora as it
was feared the SSLM could destabilise the whole region.
(ST)
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