Gitgwang Faction is Dead: An Open Letter to the Youth of SPLM-IO
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By Jesus Panther Deng, Juba, South Sudan
Monday, November 01, 2021 (PW) — Dear comrades in struggle, the recent miserable mission and sad attempt to overthrow Dr. Riek Machar Teny from the seat erased by the gravitation pull of history by scallywag (Gen. Gatwech Dual) who can’t even whip a stray cow back into the kraal in the Nuer land has ended in between the rock and the hard place. The conspiracy mission has irretrievably entered the Door of No Return. It is now inshambles, existing only on paper but practically on autopilot mode.
The information now on the public domain is that the self-crowned chairman and his deputy, Gen. Gatwech Dual and Gen. Johnson Olony respectively are both detained in Khartoum by IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority for Development) leaders. They cannot move back to Kitgwang or give instructions to their commands. They are now regretting and blaming the anti-peace elements in Juba for this trap and for luring them into indefiniteimprisonment. Individuals soldiers and members that they lured to follow them are now tossed into a confusion of whether they are going or coming.
Dear comrades, as evidenced by the last audio phone conversation in Nuer language by current Kitgwang groupmilitary spokesperson Brig. Gen William Gatjiath Deng and widely circulated on the social media platform, Gen. Gatwech Dual was deceived in Juba through Brig. Gen. William Gatjiath Deng by some anti-peace elements that if he overthrows Dr. Riek Machar from SPLM-IO leadership, he would be appointedFirst Vice President and all other positions in the power-sharing from national to state levels that were allocated to SPLM-IO leadership under Dr. Riek Machar will automatically fall on his shoulder. This was what trigger the genesis of the so-called‘’ Kitgwang Declaration’’. It was divisive rhetoric, purely fueledby the regime. But now they both failed to remove Dr. Riek Machar Teny from SPLM-IO leadership, and also self-proclaimed chairman, Gen. Gatwech Dual is detained. I hope the language will automatically change. Initially, their demandswere even far away from perfect or R-ARCSS. The leak position paper is still underwhelming insofar as it only glosses over key issues it was supposed to push for regarding the slow implementation of the peace agreements.
Dear comrades, it shouldn’t be surprising to any clear-eyed South Sudanese of the South Sudan mind that ‘’Kitgwang declaration’’ was an emotional decision taken by disillusioned individuals who felt were not rewarded with goodies and those who felt left out of the process by the peoples’ movement under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny and then hugely aided/sponsored by state (anti-peace elements). This is because their missions were far away from the mission and vision of the struggle. Of course, others under its umbrella are political mercenaries, most with unsavory past and present. Their loyalty to it is akin to that of Judas Iscariot to lord Jesus. ‘’ Kitgwang movement’’ is now like the biblical house built on sand. It’s standing now on its last leg. So we must forget the notion that it meant to push for full and genuine implementation of security arrangement or SPLM-IO people’s agenda. It was just an uncertain truce born of fear and ambition, not on principle objectives of our struggle. There is no way truth will be overshadowed by lies. We are aware that these individuals were purely sponsored by the state to cause division, purposely to weaken the people’s struggle strongholds.
But the end of it is nigh.
Of course, we admit that the agreement is not moving as scheduled and there are violations of some chapters of the agreement by our main partner but what do we do, we have to push for its full implementation to give our people a break. So if there are individuals who are pursuing genuine concerns within them regarding this then, my message to them is that Dr. Riek Machar Teny is the wrong tree to bark at. The system he is working under and peace guarantors are to be blamed for theviolation and snail implementation of the entire peace agreement including chapter II of R-ARCSS. He has done his best and he is still doing his best to make sure that all provisions in the peace agreement are fully implemented.
I am calling on the anti-peace elements in Juba to pull back and abandon actions that take away the gains made on our path to peace since the signing of this peace agreement in 2018. The warlords need to halt beating the drums of war or financing the divisive rhetoric. I am also calling on our comrades in the opposition who are being used as tools by the regime to search their souls in all honesty and put our people above individualinterests.
In conclusion, this peace agreement outlined a path towards achieving key nation-building milestones derailed by the war. Stabilizing security that will create an environment for dialogue and democratic election so that our people get services is the number one priority of peoples’ struggle under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny. Implementing it fully is not only for us but also for the benefit of our posterity. So I am calling on thosewho might have been misled in one way or the other to join the Kitgwang group especially the youth to come back and rally behind peoples’ struggle under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny for the full and genuine implementation of all provisions in the peace agreement.
Viva Chairman of People Movement, Dr. Riek Machar Teny
Viva Youth League Leadership
Viva R-ARCSS Peace Agreement
The author, Jesus Panther Deng, is the Deputy/Chairman of SPLM-IO Youth League, Kenya Chapter and can be reached at pandeng2005@gmail.com
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