Warrap’s IO Politicians Abandon Machar’s Camp in Droves

Hundreds of politicians including youths from Warrap and those in important positions in the SPLM/IO led by First Vice President Riek Machar have quit the party claiming it no longer carries feasible prospects for moving South Sudan forward.

By Okech Francis

Hundreds of politicians including youths from Warrap and those in important positions in the SPLM/IO led by First Vice President Riek Machar have quit the party claiming it no longer carries feasible prospects for moving South Sudan forward.

Calling the SPLM “the mother party,” the group said the “defection” wasn’t triggered by any external forces but the IO’s “own political failures.”

“As politicians, we represent the SPLM IO officials in Warrap State and have held or still hold various official positions; and we have all decided to come back to the mother party,” a statement issued by the group said.

“We are leaders and what we want is for the government to fulfill the needs of our people, nothing more,” it said.

“We are back to the Mother Party because the SPLM IO is not offering any solutions to the suffering South Sudanese people in our various constituencies in the State – instead Dr. Riek Machar is busy sharing lucrative government positions with his wife, family and bodyguards. We have left Dr. Riek in his positions sharing party.”

The statement said about 150 former IO members had so far joined SPLM by the weekend.

They aligned basic reasons to their abandoning the IO as these below:

Conniving with his close allies to mobilize the grassroots to reject the upcoming national elections in order to continue the agenda of extension of the transitional period or worse the war at the expense of the suffering people of South Sudan. Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, is now in a position to boycott the peaceful demands of popularized democratic elections. And he is encouraging us to go to the grassroots to tell people to prepare for war in order to disrupt the elections. It is not our intention to kill our people for political sports.

Dr. Riek Machar has proved to us that he is a political leader who trusts his own family and bodyguards more than the greater part of the country. We cannot follow such a myopic leader who is always politically suspicious. During our recent political consultation meetings at his residence, he said and we quote, “I don’t trust anyone especially from (3) states of Bahr El Ghazal region to give him/her the responsibility of being a Chairperson of the SPLM IO regardless of their competence or educational background, but I can give such a responsibility to a someone who lives with me as a relative or my bodyguard, so the choice is yours ” unquote. Why do we have to waste time with a leader who does not trust his own allies?

Lack of transparency and equality; As you can observe since the formation of the Revitalized transitional government of national unity; the so-called reforms agenda and democracy are all in questionable, because here in Juba it is his wife and his relatives who are holding lucrative positions with disregard to other SPLM IO members who are active in mobilizing for his IO agenda. We are therefore leaving the IO to his immediate family or friends plus his old bodyguards as he continues to undermine transparency and equality.

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