Bring back the true SPLA to the government: The case of Gen. Pieng Deng Kuol
5 min readBy David Deng Chapath, Kampala, Uganda
June 4, 2017 (SSB) — Though there is still a substantial number of the SPLA proper in the SPLA, but when it comes to the other sector of the government, the members of the SPLA proper appear to have been technically pushed out. When I talk of the phrase “the SPLA Proper” I meant the true SPLA members who were in frontline since 1983 to 2005.
Among the SPLA proper that had played active role in the liberation of South Sudan was General Pieng Deng Kuol. When the war between the Northern and Southern of Sudan was raging on I used to hear about him. Later when the SPLA captured many towns including Kaya, Marobo, Yei, Lianya, Rumbek and Tonji from Omar El Bashir, General Pieng and Oyai Deng were some of the army commanders I used to hear about.
So General Pieng has been active in the SPLA since its inception and which shows that he has been a long serving Army Officer in the SPLA, a role he played until January 21, 2013 (JUBA) when South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir announced new reforms in the national army as SudanTribune reported it.
In that reform ushered in by the presidential decree read on SSTV as the SSBC was known by then, President Kiir relieved all the deputies of the Chief of General Staff in the army and replaced them with new promoted officers. And the deputies to the General Chief of Staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) that were relieved among others include Lt. Gen. Pieng Deng Kuol.
After his relief from the army, General Pieng was on 02 February 2013 [Gurtong] appointed as the South Sudan National Police Inspector General replacing Gen. Achuil Tito Madut. He held the post of Inspector General of the Police until January 10, 2016 when he was relieved from it. Since then, he was been staying at home without any other assignment.
It should be pointed out clearly that while he serving in different posts both in the SPLA since 1980s to 2013 and then in the police from 2013 to 2016, he performed his work with due diligent as he worked hard to make sure that the vision, mission and objectives of the SPLM/A are protected and promoted.
Despite his ability as explained above, he has been at home since his sacking from the post of the Inspector General of Police of South Sudan. He is now going to two years without any other assignment yet he still fits to serve in the government.
I therefore appeal to the President, General Salva Kiir Mayardit to consider bringing back to the Government all the original SPLA members and in particular General Pieng Deng Kuol for the following reasons:
First, when the child is sick, an expert is required to nurse such a child so that it is able to survive. In the same way as South Sudan is in deep crisis now, the only persons who can take South Sudan and in particular the SPLM Government out of the current crisis are the original members of the SPLM/A.
This is because they have the love of the SPLM/A, and they will try by all means to bring it out of the present crisis.
Employing the original enemies of the SPLM in the heart of the SPLM government will not help South Sudan because they will try by all means to destroy South Sudan hoping that after South Sudan collapses it will be returned to Sudan.
Therefore, in the crisis like the one we have now in South Sudan the only people who can help the government to come out of such crisis are the original members of the SPLM/A who are currently outside the government.
This is because if both the original members of the SPLM in the government and outside the government sit together to decide how to help South Sudan, they can easily get a solution to the South Sudan’s problems.
Second to it, it is important that General Pieng should be appointed in any other post in the government because he is a freedom fighter as he participated with all his heart in the liberation of South Sudan and because of that he will never forget what he fought for. Therefore, he will try by all means to protect the interest of the SPLM.
In summary, other South Sudanese and I are appealing to the president of South Sudan to bring General Pieng Deng Kuol back to the Government because the liberators like him should not be left to waste yet the country is undergoing very serious crisis which needs their ability to it around.
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing from.
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