May 12, 2020 (SSNN) – A group of SPLM-IO members in the Sudanese capital Khartoum have declared their intention to abandon the main armed opposition group.
The group said they were defecting because of nepotism, lack of transparency, poor system of governance and control by Machar of the movement’s overall political activities.
“We as SPLM-IO members in Khartoum, Sudan, have decided and concluded to abandon the SPLM/A-IO movement under the leadership of Riek Machar Teny and switched our political support to the leadership [of] Hon. Dak Duop Bichiok & Cdr Gen. James kaong Chuol ranley,” they said in a statement seen by South Sudan News Now.
Led by the First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, the group has suffered serious defections in recent months.
Between February and April, top members of the SPLM-IO including the group’s deputy chief of staff Gen. Koang Chuol and former petroleum minister Dak Duop Bichiok defected to president Salva Kiir.
The two accused Machar of nepotism saying he turned the SPLM-IO into a “family property” and “dynasty.”
The group of nine little know members led by Gen. Joseph Ruot Nyieny,
said their decision to abandon the SPLM-IO was effective from today.
