Kiir (right), Machar (left). Photo: File
Juba, April 15, 2020 (SSNA) — The newly formed transitional government of national unity is in danger of imminent collapse as President Salva Kiir and his allies secretly planning ways to block full implementation of the September 2018 revitalized peace agreement, an official with South Sudan’s national security who has full knowledge of the matter told the South Sudan News Agency (SSNA).
Speaking exclusively to the SSNA on Wednesday at an undisclosed location in a Juba’s suburb, the agent revealed that President Kiir and Jieng Council of Elders (JCE), Vice President Taban Deng, Former defense minister and current senior presidential advisor Kuol Manyang Juuk, and a few former Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) generals who abandoned the armed opposition work days and nights designing a way to prevent to cause the peace to collapse.
“They are designing obstacles against peace. The plan is already in the making. It has been tested in some places in Gatjaak and Equatoria. They feel it is working,” the source asserted, adding, “Kiir, Kuol Manyang, Taban Deng, Jieng Council of Elders, and several former commanders of Riek forces work against his reform. They came up with a plan a few days after the transitional government was formed.”
The agent, who demanded complete anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter explained that Kiir and his allies want to provoke the collapse of peace deliberately to cause some confusion in people’s minds.
“They want to delay the formation of state governments by any means possible, they want to intensify ongoing military clashes between SPLA-IO and government forces who are stationed in Pagak and Maiwut,” the source says.
“Do you know the President already violated the peace by appointing the governor of South Sudan central bank, ambassadors, and deputy to the bank boss without consulting Riek Machar as the agreement requires?” the agent asks.
The intelligence official also claims that the peace deal will return the country to war quicker, warned of far unprecedented destruction, and hopes the East African regional bloc, IGAD, and the international community “act before things get ugly.”
The South Sudan News Agency has independently confirmed that Kiir did in fact appointed the central bank governor, two deputy bank governors, and six ambassadors with consulting the presidency as stipulated in the revitalized agreement. The SSNA was also told that four former SPLA-IO generals led by Lt. Gen. James koang Chuol Ranley who defected to Kiir on March 17 and General Ochan Puot Buop who also defected to the government in August 2019 are part of the plan against peace. Attempts by the SSNA to get a reaction from the spokesman of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) went unanswered. When contacted, the SPLA-IO general command simply told our reporter that “they are monitoring the situation closely” and declined to make any further comment.