A faction of the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang led by Gen Johnson Olony is grappling with a simmering discontent over the failed implementation of the peace agreement with the SPLM-led government in Juba.
The development comes as the transitional government was planning to resume the Tumaini Initiative talks in Nairobi, aimed at reaching a new agreement with the holdout opposition groups.
A number of peace deals signed by the Salva Kiir-led government have failed with the conclusion of the Revitalized Peace Agreement signed in 2018 also facing enormous challenges.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang spokesperson Yohannes Abon painted a bleak picture of the unfulfilled promises – very different from the hopeful implementation of the 2022 agreement.
Abon said since the agreement was signed, only 500 non-commissioned officers had been taken to Magenis training center but there was no progress on the implementation of the deal.
“We have challenges in the implementation. Since the political and military leaders of Kit-Gwang entered Juba, nothing has improved on the implementation of the agreement. Only 500 non- commissioned police officers were sent to Magenis training center,” said Abon.
On why Olony was stranded in Juba, Abon said, he was not under house arrest but was moving freely in the capital.
Abon said there was a need for political will from the ruling SPLM and that the party should be ready and committed.
“The agreement is very clear that the Kit-Gwang force should be reintegrated into the national army. However, there are other issues that only require directives because, from our side, we are all organized and ready for the reintegration,” he added.
Abon said since Gen. Olony and his deputy had joined the SSPDF in their regular ranks, there was a need for the completion of the rest of the agreement.
When contacted by Radio Tamazuj for comment, SPLM gave an assurance of their commitment to the agreement it signed with the SPLM-IO Kit-Gwang.
SPLM Secretary for Political Affairs, Mobilization and Organization Santo Malek Anei assured of their commitment, saying there was an ongoing engagement with the Kit-Gwang faction.
He noted that the country had been engaged with the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and they were moving towards the engagement with the Kit-Gwang faction.
“These people need to be patient. We are engaging them, and the person assigned to follow up with them was a member of the peace talk in Nairobi. Since the same person returned from Nairobi, he will handle the issues; there is no problem. The government has the political will, and the SPLM has the political will to implement all the agreement agreements we have signed,” he added.
Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), which promotes civil society values, called on the government to respect its commitment to implement the agreement signed with the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction led by Gen. Johnson Olony.
“For example, Gen. Olony’s group agreement, among others, is totally forgotten, and this practice leads to mistrust from the side of the opposition for reaching a peace agreement with the government,” he said.
“For the Tumaini peace talks process, the government has to demonstrate a strong sense of political commitment and responsibility for making peace. The reservations that we see today with the Tumaini opposition groups were much informed by the government’s way of managing the previous peace agreements it reached with other groups,” he concluded.
Olony, who has been in Juba since May 2023 after his return from the bush, signed a peace agreement with the government in January 2022.
He initially defected from the government to protect the land of the Chollo (Shilluk) people in Upper Nile State, but eventually joined Dr Riek Machar’s SPLM/A-IO, and was nominated a Governor of Upper Nile State under the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.
However, President Kiir rejected his nomination saying Olony was a “warmonger”.
In August 2021, Gen Simon Gatwech Dual issued a communiqué following a meeting of SPLA-IO commanders in Kit-Gwang in Magenis, a northern-most town bordering Sudan, declaring that they had ousted Dr Machar as the leader of the SPLM/A-IO. In what has since come to be known as the Kit-Gwang Declaration, Gatwech declared himself the new leader and appointed Olony as his number two.
In January 2022, the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang Faction signed a peace agreement in Khartoum with President Kiir’s government. The Agwelek forces, led by Olony, also signed a separate agreement with the government at the same time. The Kit-Gwang Faction, however, became disillusioned months after the peace deal and blamed the government for not implementing it.
Gatwech and Olony later fell out, with the former firing the latter, and their forces clashing several times. Olony would later say that he was for peace and willing to go to Juba.
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