Juba, February 1, 2016 (SSNA) — The leader of rebel advance team Taban Deng Gai has announced that the armed opposition would soon be forced to reduce number of its advance team members who are being accommodated in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.
Taban, who cites financial strains as the main reason for the reduction of number of the advance team members, says Troika which provided initial funding, ended its financial support on the 22nd of January 2016, adding that South Sudanese government’s funding for the advance team accommodation costs also ended on January 31.
However, Taban proclaimed that Kiir has again directed the committee tasked to fund rebel advance team to continue paying accommodation fees.
Taban, who discloses that his team consists of about 300 people, says that the leadership of the armed opposition is considering maintaining only those tasked with the implementation of the power-sharing deal and the SPLM-IO’s members who were appointed as members of parliament (MPs).
The rebel official added that Kiir gave him messages that he will be forwarding to Dr. Machar and that the messages suggest how the two warring factions can move forward with the implementation of the IGAD-Plus’s compromise peace agreement.
Troika stopped its financial support on January 22, saying South Sudanese rival leaders failed to form a transitional government by the January 22 dateline set by the IGAD-Plus.