A senior army general in the South Sudan army (SPLA) from the dominant Dinka ethnic group has declared switching his allegiance to the rebel group led by the former vice president, Riek Machar.
The commander of the SPLA division 6, General Dau Aturjong, on Friday declared his defection to the opposition forces in a press conference he addressed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi on Friday.
“I have decided to take up arms in order to liberate my people from Salva Kiir’s regime. I have declared today to join the SPLM/A under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny,” he announced.
Gen Aturjong, a member of the South Sudan’s largest community, the Dinka, hails from Northern Bahr el Ghazal state which has the biggest population of the community.
In 2010 he contested for the gubernatorial seat to lead the state as an independent candidate and accused the SPLM-backed former governor, Gen Paul Malong Awan, of rigging the votes.
Awan, a close ally to president Kiir who allegedly played role in organising the massacre of thousands of members of the Nuer community in Juba in mid-December, was recently appointed as the new chief of general staff in the army.
However, Aturjong who is Awan’s arch rival and influential figure in the state, has urged the Aweil community of Northern Bahr el Ghazal to withdraw their support from president Kiir, accusing him of dictatorship and mass killing of the people of South Sudan.
“Salva Kiir and his minority clique in Juba fabricated lies of an alleged coup and killed innocent Nuer civilians in Juba resulting to the crisis. I urge the people of Aweil community not to support him or fight for him,” he further appealed.
The notorious general was accompanied by a number of former members of parliament from his home state as well as leaders of Aweil community residing in Kenya who also confirmed their defection to the SPLM/A in opposition along with Aturjong.
“I want to tell the Dinka community that the war is a [national] resistance, not tribal,” he added, vowing to fight militarily to remove president Kiir from power, arguing that “war is an alternative mechanism to bring peace.”
The declaration came days after the chief rebel leader, Riek Machar, arrived in the Kenyan capital and met with president Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Kiir was also on an abrupt visit to Nairobi at the time of the announcement.
sudantribune
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