Ex-SSDF integration complete says SPLA spokesperson

Sudan’s Salva Kiir visits Rumbek, tells army no more war

By Skye Wheeler

A declaration on 28 May made by the President of south Sudan Salva Kiir formally called for the integration of the 31,000 ex-milita Southern Sudan Defense Force (SSDF) combatants into the south’s army, more than a year after this process was begun.

The Juba Declaration was signed between Kiir and SSDF head Paulino Matip exactly one year after the Jan 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of north-south war in Sudan during which the SSDF was sponsored by the northern forces to fight in the South.

“We started on the 28th and we only finished yesterday,” said Kuol Diem Kuol about the radio messaging of the 3,657 named officers across the vast wildernesses of the south, “today there is no SSDF … the forces will be distributed into the six divisions of the SPLA” .

But although the ex-SSDF will now be treated as equals with original SPLA soldiers, the army’s US$550 million budget for this year does not include their salaries.

“The Commander in Chief (Salva Kiir) formed a committee to review the budget … the recommendation to the Government of Southern Sudan was for them to provide a supplementary budget,” said Kuol.

A declaration by Salva Kiir on 28 May made official the integration of the ex SSDF -- which totals some 31,000 combatants -- into the south's official army just under a year and a half since the process was begun under the Juba Declaration of Jan 9 2006.

But Kuol said that the SSDF incentives in lieu of payment while the integration process was ongoing had led to overspending in 2006. This has meant that January salaries for SPLA have not yet been paid – although a special supplement has been promised.

Kuol said the soldiers have been paid for February and March and cash is in the bank for April and May payments.

Kuol said that delays in payment were partly due to the logistics of pay sheets in the conflict ravaged south and also because of delays from the finance ministry.

But the acting minister for finance Gabriel Changson Chang denied that the problems are to do with his ministry.

“The truth is that they have been getting their salaries as other units in full,” said Chang but who also said in the same interview this week that his government was going to cut down on spending this year in the face of smaller than expected oil revenues.

“We’re not going to write any new budget but going to scale down expenditure to tally with cash flow,” said Chang.

But the spokesperson said that there were no concerns about affording to pay the new members of the south’s army which receives 40 per cent of the entire budget.

“We believe our government is committed to the unity of our people, definitely they will support us,” said Kuol.