BY MORRIS KUOL YOLL
In a nation where silence is rewarded and truth is buried beneath layers of official statements and political maneuvering, General Aleu Ayieny stands alone as a voice of candor and defiance. While others wrap the Twic–Ngok conflict in hollow gestures and diplomatic theatrics, General Ayieny does what few dare; he speaks the truth.
This conflict was never spontaneous. It was born from a deliberate act—the creation of the Abyei Box Map, a political redrawing of land orchestrated under the authority of President Salva Kiir, with the involvement of Dr. Luka Biong and Deng Alor Kuol. Without informing the people of Twic County, vast areas of their ancestral lands—from West Twic to the eastern frontier—were annexed into the Abyei Administrative Area. This was not an oversight. It was an engineered shift in territorial control.
When resistance emerged, President Kiir did not mediate for justice—he fortified the Abyei Administration. The government supported its territorial claims with weapons, soldiers, and logistical backing. Unity State officials collaborated, arming Abyei-aligned forces like the Titbaai militia and Nuer fighters under Mikal Deng Kuol. What could have been a diplomatic process became a campaign of displacement.
And still, time after time, the government claimed peace was coming. But every decree, every dialogue, became just another delay. These were not efforts to solve the problem—they were calculated maneuvers to give Abyei time to entrench itself, settle the land, and erase Twic’s historical presence.
A pattern of broken promises
March 2022: President Kiir forms an investigation committee led by Vice President Hussein Abdulbagi Ayii Akol after violence erupts on February 9. He pledges a resolution within 90 days. The investigation is completed. A Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is signed on April 4. But Abyei forces violate it the very next day by attacking Athoony. The report? Silenced. The promise? Broken.
October 2022: Ignoring the Vice President’s findings—allegedly due to Abyei’s objections—Kiir appoints Angelo Beda to conduct a second investigation. Beda presents a one-sided report favoring Abyei and excluding Twic’s grievances. Despite objections, it is forwarded to Parliament.
March 20, 2023: In Akon, the President hosts a peace conference attended by Twic and Ngok chiefs and state governors. He proposes a four-point peace plan, including withdrawal from Aneet.
April 3–6, 2023: The follow-up meeting in Wau collapses. The Abyei delegation refuses to withdraw from Aneet. President Kiir takes no action to enforce his directives.
April 2024: A new decree orders the deployment of SSPDF forces along the 1956 boundary between Twic and Abyei. It also calls for the deportation of spiritual leader Gai Machiek to Unity State. In May, Generals Santino Deng Wol, Akol Koor, and Atem Marol are dispatched to enforce the order.
Instead, the SSPDF is deployed inside Twic villages, not along the 1956 line. Soldiers from Twic are expelled from their units by Generals Atem Marol and Kuai Biar, while Abyei Mission fighters and Titbaai militia are incorporated into the national army and stationed in Twic areas. General Arop Luka is made deputy to General Kuai. Under their command, Twic civilians are harassed, beaten, and arrested. In January 2025, General Kuai leads an assault on Ayuok village, burning homes and killing residents. After the attack, he is transferred to Juba, never held accountable.
April 15, 2025: UNMISS and UNISFA sponsor a youth seminar in Wau, marketed as a neutral peace-building session. Twic chiefs and MPs are excluded. Commissioner Mabior Marup and selected youth attend, unaware they’re signing documents that will later be presented as a formal peace agreement. The Twic community is kept in the dark.
On returning from Juba, neither Commissioner Mabior Marup nor former Warrap Governor Magok Magok disclosed the content of the so-called peace deal. The youth leaders who attended also remain silent. Meanwhile, UNMISS, UNISFA, the Abyei Administration, and the Ngok youth declare victory, claiming peace was signed.
But the reality is brutal. Twic civilians returning to their villages face violence and threats. In Twic County, youth are warned not to retaliate or speak out—lest they be punished under the “Green Book” laws enforced by Warrap State. These laws are not applied to Abyei actors, who continue to operate with impunity. This is not peace—it is apartheid by decree.
The only honest voice
It was in this climate of fear and suppression that General Aleu Ayieny broke ranks. At a public gathering to welcome the new Governor of Warrap State, H.E. Bol Wek Agoth, Aleu recounted a candid exchange with President Kiir.
“I told President Kiir that you are responsible for the Twic and Ngok conflict. The President asked, ‘What did I do?’ And I told him, ‘Since Dr. Justine Yaach and General Dim Deng died, you have removed the people of Twic from your agenda,” he stated.
This was not merely personal—it echoed a collective grief and anger. The Twic people, repeatedly ignored, are convinced that the President is not a neutral arbiter but a partisan architect of their exclusion.
Where others have softened their stance or remained silent, General Ayieny has remained steadfast. His defiance exposes the scripted nature of these so-called peace processes and calls the international community to look again, more closely, and more critically.
Conclusion: Peace must begin with truth
The Twic–Ngok conflict is not simply a land dispute. It is a struggle for dignity, recognition, and justice. The pattern of government manipulation, selective enforcement, and unequal treatment has turned a solvable problem into a slow-burning calamity.
And yet, in betrayal, a single truth still stands—spoken through the unwavering voice of General Ayieny. He has proven that truth can survive even when it is unwanted. That speaking up for justice may be dangerous, but silence is far more destructive.
The Twic community does not demand pity. It demands fairness. Its history cannot be erased. Its rights cannot be bartered. Its future cannot be defined in secrecy.
And above all, its truth cannot be silenced.
Morris Kuol Yoll is a South Sudanese Canadian and resides in Calgary, Alberta-Canada. He could be reached at myoll2002@yahoo.com.
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.