Machar not held captive, Puok tells Mabior
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army In-Opposition allied to the First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar has refuted the allegations by the breakaway SPLM/A-IO faction that Dr. Riek is lured by some party’s members in Juba
Earlier, Mabior Garang de Mabior the SPLM-IO former chairperson of national committee of information and public relation claimed in a local podcast that Dr. Riek Machar is not in control of the Juba SPLM-IO team.
“We believe he has been kidnapped by the mafia within our movement and he is being politically extorted by these mafias. We cannot trust any letter signed by him [Machar] because they control his signature. They usually forced documents like the confusion behind my resignation and the sacking of the former chief of staff,” Mabior claims.
He made the statement during an interview with the National Political Education Podcast on Thursday last week.
Baluang answers
However, in a telephone interview with the City Review yesterday, Puok Both Baluang SPLM/A-IO Director for Information and Public Relation dismissed the claims made by Mabior, saying Dr. Machar came to Juba to rescue the peace.
He said the coming of Dr. Machar to Juba was a directive from SPLM/A-IO leadership to come and implement the peace agreement after the several extensions of the period in the formation of the unity government.
“Dr. Riek was aware of all the impeachment for his coming to Juba though there was no proper security arrangement. It was a leadership call by the SPLM/A-IO to rescue the peace itself from being crushed due to lack of political will from our partners,” Puok said.
“Dr. Riek is a wise person and he is aware of all the processes in the implementation of the peace agreement. If he did not come to Juba, the agreement might have collapsed”.
The formation of the government of national unity had been extended several times. There was an extension of eight months, six months and one hundred days.
According to Puok, the SPLM/A IO agreed that the period should not be extended again despite the pending issues in the security arrangement.
He said Mabior was among those who were pushing for the formation of the government amid challenges, “Garang himself has sent two letters to the First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar tendering his resignation from the movement and in the last political bureau meeting he accepted his resignation from the Chairperson of the National Committee of Information and Public Relation not from the SPLM/A-In Opposition generally.”
