South Sudan’s ruling SPLM has rejected claims by opposition politician Kornelio Kon Ngu that the party operates more like an armed group than a political organisation, as the country prepares for elections in December.
Kon, the third deputy speaker of parliament and leader of the National United Democratic Front (NUDF), made the remarks at a summit of the National Alliance of Political Parties (NAOPP) in Juba on Friday.
He questioned the involvement of serving military officers in the SPLM and argued that political and military roles should be separated.
The SPLM dismissed the claims as baseless and said it has no military wing.
“The SPLM is a political party which has got a structure and got office,” John Andruga Duku, the party’s national secretary for political affairs, mobilisation and organisation, told reporters in Juba on Monday.
Duku said the SPLM is formally registered with the Political Parties Council (PPC) and accused Kon of resorting to personal attacks instead of competing through political programmes and policies.
“We are not a military wing. We are a political party registered officially in the Political Party Council,” he said.
The dispute comes as South Sudan prepares for elections that are intended to end a prolonged transitional period following years of delays in implementing the 2018 peace agreement.
The SPLM also defended the recent presence of Lieutenant General Johnson Olony at the party’s headquarters, which Kon had cited in questioning the separation between the party and the military.
Olony, a former leader of the Agwelek armed group, was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Forces for Mobilization and Disarmament in January 2025 after some of his forces were incorporated into the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF).
He returned to Juba in May 2023 under a peace agreement he had signed with President Salva Kiir’s government in January 2022. The agreement provided for the integration of his forces into the national army.
Jimmy Atilio, the SPLM secretary for culture, information and communication, said Olony had attended an event involving the political wing of the former Aguelek group earlier this month.
Atilio said members of the political wing had dissolved their structures and joined the SPLM after the group’s military wing was integrated into the SSPDF.
He accused Kon of criticising the SPLM after failing to persuade members of the former Aguelek political group to join his party. Kon has not publicly responded to the allegation.
The SPLM also rejected Kon’s warning that violence or internal conflict could erupt within the party.
Duku said the SPLM opposed violence and called on political and armed groups to resolve disputes through dialogue.
“We are not for confrontation. We are not for violence. We want open campaign,” he said.
He said South Sudanese had suffered enough from years of conflict and should be allowed to choose their leaders through elections.
Duku said the SPLM would accept the election result if it lost and urged other political parties to make the same commitment.
“If SPLM loses the election, we will honourably accept the outcome,” he said.
The SPLM said it had its own electoral calendar and would conduct its campaign in line with directives from the National Electoral Commission.
Kon declares presidential bid
Kon announced over the weekend that he would challenge President Salva Kiir in the December election, becoming the first politician to publicly declare a presidential bid against the incumbent.
NAOPP is a signatory to the 2018 peace agreement as part of the Other Political Parties (OPP) grouping. Kon was appointed third deputy speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly under the power-sharing arrangements established by the agreement.
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