South Sudan rebel leader General Stephen Buay Rolnyang has threatened to withdraw from high-level mediation for South Sudan being held in Nairobi alleging there was an assassination attempt on him.
Rolnyang who leads the South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A) claimed that the two attempts on his life were made in a space of one week.
According to disturbing reports, General Rolnyang wrote to General Lazaros Sumbeiywo detailing the assassination attempts.
President William Ruto, who chairs the high-level mediation team, had appointed Sumbeiywo as the chief mediator to bring peace between the South Sudanese government and hold-out groups.
Following the alleged assassination attempt, Rolnyang stated that he would return his team back to South Sudan.
He claims that close associates of the Juba government had sent assassins to Nairobi to hunt and eliminate him.
“The Juba security agents employed Kenyan agents wearing dark glass eyes and came to the hotel where they kept hiding near the hotel toilets in the evening carrying some pictures in their hands definitely which might be my picture,” he stated remarking that this happened on May 16.
“I noticed them and I returned to my room and immediately alerted the security.”
The rebel leader claims that he reported the incident but his grievances were dismissed.
According to the General, one of the assassins sent from Juba visited him and confessed since they were related.
Rolnyang revealed that the only reason that he was not assassinated was because he had married from the family of the security agent who was sent to eliminate him.
The rebel leader now fears that President Salva Kiir’s administration is not honest with the peace talks.
