Gen. Oyay Deng Ajak, former chief of general staff of the
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and a member of the Real-SPLM, has
dissociated himself from the newly established opposition coalition, the United
People's Alliance (UPA), commanded by Gen. Pagan Amum.
Gen. Oyay, in a message to Gen. Pagan Amum, congratulated
him on becoming chairman of the alliance but reaffirmed his loyalty to the
Real-SPLM, rejecting membership in the new group and requesting the removal of
his name.
“Good afternoon, comrade Chairman Pagan. I just wanted to
congratulate you and the comrades on the formation of the new movement/UPA. I
am sorry, comrade, that I saw my name on the list of memberships today. I
thought we could have consulted each other first. I am therefore appealing to
your comradeship to remove my name from that movement. I remain R-SPLM,” Oyay
stated.
Formed on January 9, 2025, by former opposition groups under
the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance participating in the Tumaini
Initiative in Kenya, UPA has registered 37 members so far, including Gen. Oyay,
who has requested his name be removed.
The coalition includes the Real-Sudan People's Liberation
Movement (R-SPLM), South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A), South Sudan United
National Alliance (SSUNA), South Sudan People's Movement/Army (SSPM/A),
National People's Movement (NPM), Upper Nile People Liberation Front (UNPLF),
and National Salvation Front—Revolutionary Command Council (NAS-RCC).
When contacted by The Radio Community, Gen. Oyay declined to
provide further details, citing a compromising environment, but promised to
elaborate later while reaffirming his objection to joining the alliance led by
his commander, Pagan Amum.
“I have people around me now; we will discuss more when I
come to Nairobi. Because there was no consultation done, that’s my position,”
Oyay said.
According to Gen. Pagan, the coalition was established to
consolidate the efforts of various opposition groups and present a united front
in the struggle for political change in South Sudan.
“Our decision to unite ourselves is inspired by the need to
present a united opposition to solve the problem in the country, to provide
leadership for our people in this very difficult time, to bring about
fundamental change in South Sudan, and end the suffering of our people,” Pagan
stated.
Launched on May 9, 2024, the Tumaini Initiative is a high-level mediation effort led by Kenya, aiming to achieve lasting peace in South Sudan by incorporating opposition parties that did not sign the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
