By William Madouk
Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) under Dr. Riek Machar has protested what it termed bias in the latest distribution of ranks for the unification of the second command.
On Tuesday, the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces distributed ranks in the command as the next step to actualize the implementation of the security arrangement.
The launch of the rank distribution was conducted at the army headquarters in Bilpham, Juba, during the general briefing by the Chief of Defense Forces, Gen. Santino Deng Wol.
The distribution was based on the power-sharing ratio stipulated in the 2018 peace agreement.
According to the allocations, the SSPDF took 211 positions, followed by the SPLA-IO with 106 positions, and the SSOA with 33 positions.
Maj Gen. Lul Ruai, the SSPDF spokesperson, said “SSPDF identified and allocated exact positions to be occupied by IO and SSOA officers.”
He added that the responsibility is now on the SPLA-IO and SSOA to submit a list of the officers whom they expect to occupy the positions.
Afterward, President Salva Kiir will have to confirm the ranks of opposition generals to be considered officers in the SSPDF.
Reacting to the matter, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, the SPLA-IO spokesperson, said they read the relinquishment of the positions, which may look good in public eyes but is not good as per the deal.
“The SPLA-IO would like to inform the public that the SSPDF-IG failed to provide their command structure for proper and transparent allocation of the positions to the parties as per the agreement,” he echoed.
Col. Gabriel said they sent a proposal as per the agreed Joint Defense Board (JDB) structure to Mr. Tut Gatluak, the Chair of the National Transitional Committee so that it reaches the principal for possible correction since the high command failed to agree.
According to him, SSPDF-IG has put aside some positions that give them more command power over other parties to the agreement.
“The SPLA-IO is aware of positions within the SSPDF structure that have been put aside to favor the SSPDF-IG and give them more command powers over the SPLA-IO and SSOA,” Mr. Gabriel noted.
“The SPLA-IO, therefore, calls upon the SSPDF unified command to be neutral enough, fair, and completely transparent by also showing the positions allocated to the SSPDF-IG just like it happened during their unification process,” he continued.
However, the SPLA-IO cited that the issue was not that they didn’t want to provide a list of names for officers to be commissioned but that it was about genuine command structure.
According to the allocation document, the power-sharing is a referee to the directives of the line, with a respective distribution of 60 percent for the SSPDF, 30 percent for the SPLA-IO, and 10 percent for the SSOA in the matrix of the allocation of positions.
Also, each group has different directorates and administrations within the national army headquarters and the Ministry of Defense and veteran affairs.