JUBA, JUNE 25, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan opposition commander and leader of the SPLA-IO Kitgwang faction Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual has relieved the group’s chief of staff, Gen. Laraka Machar Turoal, before demoting and expelling him from the rebel movement. 

In the order dated June 24, 2023, Gen. Gatwech stated that his chief of staff travelled to the Kenyan capital Nairobi to meet General Paul Malong Awan, leader of the South Sudan United Front/Army, without his knowledge.

“1^st Lt. Gen. Laraka Machar Turoal, the Chief of Staff for SPLA-IO KD went to Nairobi and met with SSUF/A leader Gen. Paul Malong Awan without knowledge from the office of Chairman and Commander in Chief of SPLM/A (IO) KD,” he said.

Gatwech also alleged that he has information that General Laraka also has daily communication with the deputy director of general intelligence agency General Gregory Deng Kuac who is also a brother-in-law to President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and also with First Vice President Riek Machar in April.

“[He] had a daily communication with Maj. Gen Gregory Deng Kuac, the Deputy Director General of the General Intelligence Bureau of the National Security Service (NSS) and a brother-in-law of President Salva Kiir Mayardit,” Gatwech said. 

“On 20^th April 2023, he also made a surprise phone connection call with Dr. Riek Machar Teny online without first to notify the Chairman and Commander in Chief of SPLM/A (IO) KD on what prompt the phone connection and immediately, the connection was switch off by the SPLM/A (IO) KD Leader,” he added.

The top opposition commander further alleged that General Laraka “has built a concrete house in Kampala through the bribery money from Juba” and further stated that Laraka was undermining efforts he said his group has made with friends. 

“He has abandoned the cause of the struggle cheaply for his own personal interest and give out vital information to the Juba regime [and he has no effective communication with the office of the chairman and commander in chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) KD,” he said.

Gatwech concluded his order that Laraka has “committed a serious offense” which he said is punishable under the SPLA Act of 2009 that the SPLA-IO Kitgwang amended in 2022.Sudan's Post

The nation stands the risk of not achieving the HIV-AIDS target by 2030 due to inadequate investment in the proven strategies, the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, has said.

“In fact, Ghana is way behind the 2020 target of 90-90-90. Between 2019 and 2022, the country was only able to progress by less than 10 percentage points, and at the current rate of progress, we are unlikely to achieve the 90-90-90 targets by 2030, by which time we should rather achieve the global target of 98-98-98 and end AIDS,” he added. 

The D-G said the HIV pandemic control remained unachieved in three project regions and the country as a whole.

The regions are Western, Western North and Ahafo. Dr Atuahene was speaking at a USAID “Strengthening the care continuum project” at its closeout meeting in Takoradi in the Western Region. 

The programme was attended by health managers from the three regions who discussed interventions, strategies and achievements in the areas of care identification, active linkage to treatment and optimisation, among others.

Concerns

Dr Atuahene expressed concerns over the fact that although many African countries had achieved the 2025 target of 95-95-95, the nation was yet to even achieve the 90-90-90 targets.

“Many factors account for our inability to achieve these targets, it is quite obvious that those countries have enjoyed huge combined resources from Global Fund and PERFAR for more than 20-years. 

“The estimated funds available for the national HIV response for the next three years is just 33 per cent of the needed fund for the period,” he said.

Dr Atuahene, however, said that the government was evaluating all available options to address the yawning funding gap, adding that the commission was aggressively embarking on a resource mobilisation drive.

He further said that the commission would continue to explore innovative financing options, including establishing public private partnerships.  

Effort

The USAID/Ghana Mission Director, Kimberly Rosen, commended the government for its continued effort to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat in the country by 2030. 

“Over the past four years, PERFAR has supported the government to test more than 46,000 individuals, diagnosed more than 18,000 HIV-positive people and initiated 17,000 antiretroviral therapy courses,” she said.

Ms Rosen said that the US partnership with Ghana had made some impact within the first three years of the implementation of the USAID Care Continuum project which covered about 30,700 people with HIV services.

The Chief of Party, USAID Care Continuum Project, Dr Henry Ajewi-Narh Nagai, said over the past seven years, “we have worked with our collaborators to improve health outcomes in the three beneficiary regions and the country at large”. By Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu, Graphine Online