JUBA – Former South Sudan Deputy Minister of Defense, General David Yau Yau, has defected from President Salva Kiir’s SPLM party to the main armed opposition SPLM-IO led by First Vice President Riek Machar.
Yau Yau made the declaration during a press conference at the SPLM-IO secretariat in Juba on Monday.
This move comes months after President Kiir removed Yau Yau from his position as a member of the SPLM Liberation Council in October 2023.
In an official decree aired on state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, President Kiir further rescinded the appointments of David Yau Yau and Charles Welo as members of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, representing the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
The reasons behind Kiir’s decision to dismiss Yau Yau from both the top ranks of the SPLM and the national parliament, alongside others, remain unclear.
Yau Yau, a former rebel leader in the Pibor area who had previously signed a peace deal with the government, joined the ruling party SPLM in Juba in January 2016. His rebellion against Juba began in 2010 after failing to secure a parliamentary seat in the Sudanese general elections.
Following the integration of his military wing, the Cobra Faction, into the South Sudanese army according to the May 2014 peace agreement, the Greater Pibor Administrative Area was carved out of Jonglei State, becoming a largely autonomous administrative unit.
Yau Yau held several governmental positions after abandoning his rebellion, including serving as the chief administrator of the Greater Pibor Area and as the deputy minister of defense.
This is a breaking story and is being updated!
