Gen. Olony: I’m in Juba to answer the peace call
The leader of the Agwelek Forces, Gen. Johnson Olony, has vowed to work with the government to ensure sustainable peace to the country.
After months of procrastination on his planned visit to Juba, Gen Olony, finally arrived at the Juba International Airport, where he was received by the Presidential Advisor on Security, Tut Gatluak. He then addressed the media, making a bold pledge to ensure sustainable peace in South Sudan.
“I don’t want war anymore; I come for peace. We signed a peace agreement with the government long ago, and Tut is the witness. I was supposed to come a long time [but I delayed coming to Juba due to some work; I am here finally today,” Gen Olony said.
“Nobody told me to come to Juba, but President [Salva Kiir] is the one who told me to come… I am a man of peace and that is why Kiir allowed me to come with my 200 soldiers,” he stated.
Olony said the soldiers would be under the care of the government.
“Juba is not for one person but for all of us. I was born in Juba, grew up in Juba, and fired my first bullets in Juba, and that is why I am here for peace.”
According to Olony, he will spend five days in Juba to discuss with President Kiir how to implement the Khartoum Peace Agreement signed with him last year.
He promised to work together with the government to solve the insecurity in the country.
Meanwhile, the presidential advisor for security affairs, Tut Gatluak, reiterated that Mr. Olony’s arrival would bolster the bid for permanent peace and secure Upper Nile State, previously in distress when tribal wars began.
“After we signed the agreement with Olony, people feared that peace would not come to Juba. Olony is here to help the government with the implementation of the security arrangement,” Tut said.
Tut called on the people of the Upper Nile State who are currently in the PoCs camp in Malakal to return to their homes, arguing the state is peaceful now.
Agreement signed
The Khartoum Peace Agreement was signed on behalf of the government by President Kiir’s security advisor, Tut Gatluak, the Director-General of the National Security’s Internal Security Bureau, Akol Koor, and the SSPDF Military Intelligence Director General, Stephen Marshal. Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual and his deputy, Gen. Johnson Olony, signed the deal on behalf of their SPLM/A-IO breakaway Kitgwang faction in 2022.
According to the agreement, the government of South Sudan was supposed to facilitate the establishment of coordination offices in Juba, Malakal, and Bor to assist in the process of assembling and reintegrating the KitGwang faction.
The peace agreement also guarantees the implementation of the security arrangements and a permanent ceasefire and grants the Kitgwang faction amnesty, containment, and reintegration of the breakaway SPLA-IO forces into the SSPDF within three months, among others.
