Rebel South Sudan Liberation Army distance themselves from Peter Gadet
14 min readPeter Gadet declares ceasefire as South Sudan rebels say he has defected
August 4, 2011 (JUBA) – A rebel group led by Peter Gadet Yak declared Wednesday a ceasefire with the South Sudan government, but other members of the same rebel group denied the truce saying they are not concerned by the decision of their former leader.
- Peter Gadet (photo SMC)
Bol Gatkouth Kol, spokesperson of the rebel of South Sudan Liberation Movement/ Army (SSLM/A) said their groups accepted a recent amnesty offered by South Sudan President Salva Kiir during the celebration of Independence Day on July 9.
“We declared an unconditional ceasefire with the government of South Sudan. This is because we have accepted the amnesty offered once again by the president of the Republic of South Sudan,” Kol told Sudan Tribune by phone on Wednesday.
“We have discussed and agreed in our leadership council to send a delegation to Juba to discuss with the government of South Sudan so we can reach an amicable reconciliation and agreement,” he further stressed.
A source at the presidential palace in Juba disclosed to Sudan Tribune that the ceasefire declaration comes as a direct result of secret negotiations held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi over weekend.
The spokesperson of the South Sudan army (SPLA) Colonel Phillip Aguer Panyang welcomed the move but said they were not aware of the details of the deals reached between the government and Peter Gadet.
“I just learned from the media that the rebels have reached an agreement with government of South Sudan. I was not aware. All what I know that the government had an initiative for peace and reconciliation,” he told Sudan Tribune. Colonel Panyang further emphasised that the SPLA has no problem with any initiative involving the government.
“As army, we do not have any problem. We are the implementers. We execute what the government wants us to do to protect lives and maintaining stability of the country,” he said.
The renegade General defected from the SPLA in March 2011 and disappeared after receiving a permission to visit Nairobi. On 11 April he released the Mayom Declaration where he called for the toppling of the SPLM-led government in Juba and to form an interim cabinet composed of all the political forces in the South Sudan.
Peter Gadet who was the former SPLA commander air defence and deputy commander of division three joined the South Sudan Army after the Juba Declaration signed on 8 January 2006 between Salva Kiir and Paulino Matip the leader of the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF).
The Juba Declaration was made necessary by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the SPLA and Khartoum, which stated that the SPLA was the only lawful armed group in South Sudan.
The deal also paved the way for South Sudan’s independence on July 9 this year as the agreement allowed for a self-determination referendum, which took place in January.
PETER GADET ARRIVES TO JUBA
Major General Peter Gatdet arrived to Juba Wednesday evening on board a Jetlink plane from Nairobi on Wednesday in an unexpected move that has been welcome by the public.
In a press statement, the SSLA spokesperson Bol Gatkuoth, who accompanied his leader, said they have returned to Juba after closed door dialogue conducted in Nairobi with officials who were delegated by President Kiir in order to end the violence.
He added that his group was also interested in making peace with the government as an assurance to the other rebel groups that “genuine” peace was still possible with the government following the mysterious killing of Gatluak Gai, three days after signing the ceasefire.
The government’s spokesperson, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, while shaking hands with the rebel spokesperson, Gatkuoth, congratulated the rebel leaders for accepting the amnesty announced by the president on Independence Day celebrations on 9 July.
GADET JOINS KIIR BUT NOT THE SSLA
The SSLM/A reacted swiftly in a five page statement released on Wednesday evening saying they are not part of Gadet’s ceasefire. The rebels underlined that Peter Gadet and “his spokesman” only reached this deal with President Salva Kiir.
The SSLM said it is not affected by the defection of the their leader stressing he came alone to join them on 28 March with Kol and now the two have moved to Juba alone. “When they joined the SSLM/A, they didn’t bring a single soldier along with them except their SPLA’s military uniforms”.
The insurgents, who designated Maj. Gen. James Gai Yoach as new leader, said the latter sealed a deal in Nairobi with President Kiir and now he is commissioned to fight what they termed “Garang Boys” including Majak Agok, Pagan Amum, James Hoth Mai, Nhial Deng Nhial, Kuol Manyang Juuk and Rebecca Nyandeng Mabior.
The new South Sudanese state is facing some six rebel groups who emerged after April 2010 election in the Sudan. They generally accuse Juba government of nepotism and corruption and demand the formation of an all-party government to prepare a new constitution.
Last week, a rebel leader from Unity state, Gatluak Gai, was killed after signing a peace deal with Juba. His family accuses the South Sudan army of orchestrating the murders but leading members of his group said they killed him because he was not committed to the peace deal.
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KHARTOUM — A group of South Sudanese rebels formerly linked to militia leader Peter Gadet, who agreed to a ceasefire this week, accused him on Thursday of taking government bribes and rejected the peace deal.
Gadet, one of the fledgling country’s most powerful rebel leaders, returned to Juba on Wednesday, after secret talks with South Sudanese officials in Nairobi, to accept an amnesty offered by President Salva Kiir, his spokesman Bol Gatkouth said.
But in a statement signed by six rebels claiming to represent the high command of Gadet’s South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, the splinter faction disowned his accord with the government, adding that it had not affected the group, which remained “well organised with 780 officers and a force of 5,000.”
“We the undersigned members of the SSLM/A High Command are hereby alerting the people of South Sudan and international community that no ceasefire has ever been declared between our movement and government in Juba.”
The rebels said Gadet only agreed to the ceasefire after he was offered $3 million (2.1 million euros) and a villa in Nairobi’s suburbs, in return for his assistance in neutralising a planned coup against the president.
Gatkouth, Gadet’s spokesman, dismissed the claims and accusations of the group, which he said had nothing to do with the SSLA.
He suggested they were “Nuer elements” within the Sudanese army, referring to one of South Sudan’s main ethnic groups, and that they were supported by political opponents in Khartoum and by Sudan’s military intelligence.
Juba has traditionally accused Khartoum of supporting the different southern rebel groups in a bid to destabilise the country, as it did during the devastating 1983-2005 civil war, claims rejected by the north.
The rebels, in their statement, said the original reasons for them taking up arms against the government remained.
“We took up arms because we realised that our nation had groomed a monster that would swallow generation after generation in terms of bad leadership and extreme level of corruption which poisons our values and tradition.”
The group, led by James Gai Yoach and claiming to be based in Mayom County, in oil-rich Unity state, Gadet’s stronghold, called for the formation of a legitimate broad-based government as a necessary condition for order and stability.
The newly independent country faces a host of daunting challenges, among the greatest of which are rampant corruption, which the president has vowed to confront, and the security threat from the numerous militias operating within its borders.
Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between the army and different rebel groups in states across South Sudan so far this year.
In a further sign of the potential fragility of any peace accord like the one agreed on Wednesday, rebel leader Gatluak Gai, who was also based in Unity state, was shot dead last month shortly after reneging on a ceasefire agreement.
No Peace Talks Are Taking Place Between SSLM/A and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan
_400_290.jpg?w=640 "South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) leader Maj. General Peter Gadet Yak. Photo: sudanvotes.com/Getty Images")
South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) leader Maj. General Peter Gadet Yak. Photo: sudanvotes.com/Getty ImagesOn July, 7, 2011, former head of SSLM/A Military High Command, Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet Yak, left for Jordan under the pretext of going for medical checkups. He was later joined by the former Spokesperson Col. Bol Gatkuoth Koal and both secretly met with bodyguards of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet was supposed to return to SSLM/A Headquarters of Mayom on July 25th as per confidential correspondences between him and the High Command. However, he didn’t show up at SSLM/A General Headquarters in Mayom and went straight to Nairobi accompanied by Col. Bol Gatkuoth. In Kenya, they were engaged in secretive negotiations and deals with President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s security personnel while being monitored closely by SSLA’s External Security agents. On August, 1st, the duo struck a deal with Salva Kiir Mayardit which offered Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet $3 million dollars plus a villa in Nairobi’s suburbs in exchange for assisting Salva Kiir in neutralizing Garang’s boys within the SPLM who have plans to stage a coup against the president of the Republic of South Sudan.
We would like to inform the people of South Sudan that, contrary to allegations Col. Bol Gatkuoth stated in the media, what took place was not a peaceful negotiation to end rebellion in South Sudan because there is no peace process that could be negotiated by two people. But it was a deal between Salva Kiir and Peter Gatdet in which the latter is needed by the former to assist him in neutralizing Garang’s boys who have plans to overthrow Kiir’s government. The statement of former Spokesperson Col. Bol Gatkuoth that a ceasefire was declared is a political deception to cover-up a deal aimed at eliminating Majak Agok, Pagan Amum, James Hoth Mai, Nhial Deng Nhial, Kuol Manyang Juuk and Rebecca Nyandeng Mabior.
We would like to inform and educate the Southern public that former head of SSLM/A High Command, Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet, joined the Movement that was already in existence on April, 11, 2011 while he was accompanied by his friend Col. Bol Gatkuoth Koal. They chartered a plane from Nairobi to the headquarters of SSLM/A on March, 28, 2011. When they joined the SSLM/A, they didn’t bring a single soldier along with them except their SPLA’s military uniforms. Prior to their defection to SSLM/A, our Movement was well organized with 780 officers and a force of 5,000.
When Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet joined the Movement, we made him the head of Military High Command as an honor although we knew what SPLA’s Chief-of-General-Staff, Lt. Gen. James Hoth Mai, said about him that he was a man who could not stay in one place for more than three months. Despite the fact that we knew he would one day return to SPLA based on his defection records, we accommodated him thinking he was genuinely motivated by objectives of liberation. Little did we know that Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet’s personality has not changed with age and experience as many people in the South would assume. On August, 03, 2011, he and his friend returned to government of South Sudan through Nairobi Kenya, the same route that they once used to join our Movement. We are not surprised for his return back to Juba because he came with his friend Bol Gatkuoth and they have now returned via the same way but unfortunately without taking their SPLA’s uniforms with them.
We would like to inform the public that Maj. Gen. James Gai Yoach is now the head of SSLM/A Military High Command. He was the head of SSLM/A before Peter Gatdet joined our Movement and has now resumed his duties after Gatdet returned to Juba with his friend Bol Gatkuoth. It is important for the public to disregard false allegations Col. Bol Gatkuoth made because the return of Maj. Gen. Peter Gatdet to Juba has not affected the SSLM/A. He joined the SSLM/A in April with his friend and has now returned to Juba with him without taking a single soldier. Maybe President Salva Kiir would prove James Hoth Mai wrong regarding the fact that Peter Gatdet cannot stay in one place for more than three months. Based on his record, it is possible that he may defect again to SSLA without surprising anybody.
It is important for general public and the international community to note that South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army has never declared a ceasefire with the government of South Sudan because the reasons why we took up arms have not been met. We took up arms because we realized that our nation had groomed a monster that would swallow generation after generation in terms of bad leadership and extreme level of corruption which poisons our values and tradition that rejects thefts in our midst. What we saw in the last six years of the interim period was a complete deviation from the path set by the CPA. There was an absolute failure in the area of good governance. For instance our entire nation had witnessed rampant corruption on the top echelon of GOSS. It is shocking that only six years in government, the private bank accounts of the leadership of GOSS in foreign banks rose from Zero to tens of millions of Dollars! More than 20 billion dollars of oil revenue received by GOSS could not be seen in terms of tangible services delivery in areas such as health, education, water, etc. Our children went without schools while the Children of our leaders enjoyed the best education in foreign lands. Our people continued to die from treatable diseases while those in charge and their families visited the best hospitals abroad. In fact, the current leadership of GOSS never felt the sense of belonging to the South for their families continued to stay in their expensive mansion in east Africa, America, Australia, etc.
In the ten states of South Sudan, the security has broken down due to tribal and sectional fights gripping the entire South as the traditional leaders are deprived of their traditional authority. County commissioners have turned the counties into fiefdoms where their misbehaviors have become sources of insecurity. On the political level, the SPLM leadership continues to pursue the politics of exclusion within itself and outside it. It denies the other Southern political parties the right to propagate their ideas and present their political program to the people. Above all, the SPLM leadership used SPLA high command to intimidate other leaders in the South reducing the level of our supposedly national army to a party militia.
The SSLM/A Military High Command would like to state, in no uncertain terms, that bribing individuals to join the government in Juba will not bring lasting peace in South Sudan nor would it end rebellion against the illegitimate government in Juba. Right now there are three Movements fighting the government of South Sudan such as SSLM/A, SSDM/A and SSDF of Gordon Koang. We strongly believe that the solution to end conflict in South Sudan is for international community to mediate a comprehensive peace accord that shall settle grievances of all Movements languishing in the bushes of South Sudan. We don’t believe that striking deals motivated by monetary kickbacks will indeed lead to peace in South Sudan, which is a divided society. Since there is a deep mistrust between the SPLM/A and other groups in the South, a higher degree of international mediation is needed. A centralized dictatorship based on bribery and coercion would not generally prove to be a viable means of state-building in South Sudan, since centralized dictatorship could only be imposed through violence.
Therefore, the SSLM/A Military High Command, calls upon the IGAD, UN, USA, UK, Norway, AU and all peace loving nations in the world to advise Juba government to accept international mediation which would achieve the followings:
1. The dissolution of the current government of Southern Sudan to be replaced by a national broad-based government agreed upon by all the South Sudan political parties, armed groups and civil society organizations. The formation of a legitimate government is a necessary condition for order and stability. Trust and confidence in a national government can be gained through the establishment of democratic principles reflecting an inclusive representation. A new government needs to be formed where executive power can be shared among the representatives of all political and armed groups through a grand coalition in the cabinet.
2. A meeting of all the South Sudan political parties shall be convened immediately to discuss and agree on the transitional process and form a transitional government of South Sudan that shall prepare the newly born state for free and fair elections. A South-South Consensus on democratization and transition from conflict should reflect a wide representation of groups. Representatives of major political parties, armed Movements and civil society organizations can work together toward forming a new political culture based on compromise and negotiation. A negotiated democratic transition requires political dialogue that can lead to easing of tensions over the process. A more inclusive political climate will contribute to popular support and legitimacy.
3. The transitional government shall carry out general election in the Republic of South Sudan within two years to elect the Constituent Assembly that shall promulgate the permanent constitution of the Republic of South Sudan. Elections usually imply a step forward in state-building and democracy with former adversaries pursuing their opposing ideologies and interests in a non-violent fashion. We believe that holding elections in two years time is only the first step toward the establishment of a functioning political system and multiparty democracy.
4. South Sudan must practice federalism because ethnic plurality can be protected by the structure of federal government. Through decentralization of government functions, a political system with dispersion of power reduces the fear of domination by one group in an ethnically diverse country like South Sudan.
Signed,
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