Simon Gatwech Dual

Simon Gatwech Dual (also spelled Simon Gatwitch) is a Sudanese rebel Major General who was born in around the late 1930s in what is today Uror County, Jonglei state, South Sudan.

Politics

He joined the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) under Dr. John Garang during the struggle against the Sudanese government, and broke away in 1991 when Riek Machar, Gordon Koang and Dr.Lam Akol formed the SPLA-Nasir faction. Gatwech led the Bor massacre in November 1991 which included many White Army fighters.[1] He joined the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) in 2013 when war broke out in Juba between forces loyal to the president Salva Kiir Mayardit and those loyal to the opposition led by Machar.

Gatwech was appointed as chief of general staff of the SPLA-IO on 21 December 2014 and remains in that position until he attempted to overthrow Dr.Riek Machar on 4th August 2021 and returned to Juba following the August 2015 peace agreement between Mayardit and Machar.[2]

On August 4, 2021, Gatwech made a declaration, the Kitgwang Declaration, to announce the removal of Machar as the leader of the SPLM-IO and that he has assumed power as the new leader.[3][4]

References
  1. Young, John (July 2016). "Popular Struggles and Elite Co-optation: The Nuer White Army in South Sudan's Civil War" (PDF). p. 21.
  2. Mlambo-Ngcuka, Phumzile (3 January 2015). "S. Sudan rebel leader appoints more deputies to chief of general staff". Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  3. says, Hon Thor Jok (2021-08-03). "General Gatwech removes Machar, declares himself interim SPLM-IO chairman". Sudans Post. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  4. "South Sudan's VP Machar ousted as party head, says military wing". Reuters. 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
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