Page 55 - EVOLUTION OF THE SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT(SPLM),

and Hiyala. The Bright star military campaign secured key garrison towns in the south including
Bor, Torit, and Kapoeta. For the first time the SPLM established their headquarters in Torit and
laid siege of Juba(SAD.887/9/15).

The campaign also forced General Abdel Majid Ahmed Khalil, the then Minister of Defense
in Khartoum, to resign over poor military morale and infrastructure, worsening economy, the
changing political atmosphere globally. The conglomeration of heavy military budget and
implementation of structural adjustments programs partly contributed to a bloodless coup that

brought General Omar Hassan Al Bashirto power on the 30th of June 1989(MLCS 83/7692 (J)
FT MEADE). Al Bashir became the head of State, government, the Defense minister and the
Commander in Chief of the Sudan armed forces. The coup had the following implications. For
one, Al Bashir closed media outlets, abrogated the constitution and dissolved parliament. Trade

unions and interest group were banned.

General Al Bashir came to power with the support of the Islamists who were opposed to any
form of negotiations with the SPLM/A. Furthermore; he was keen to reverse the military already
registered by SPLM/A. To achieve these objectives, he applied similar war strategist like his

predecessors including divide and conquer or rule. This war strategy sought to exploit differences
among Southern Sudanese ethnic groups hence weakening SPLM from within(MLCS 83/7692 (J)
FT MEADE). The strategy of divide and rule partially worked as Mundari, the Nuer, the Toposa

and Murle helped Khartoum to take parts of Juba due to their long feuds with Dinka. Serious
political rifts occurred within the SPLM with the arrests of General Kerubino Kuanyin Bol,
General Arok Thon Arok and Joseph Aduho.

But, nevertheless, the SPLM stood its ground as the formidable force, capable to penetrate and

expand into Western Equatorial and strongly reinforced the siege of Juba (Arop, 2009; Le Richie,
2012). By the time the cold war formally ended in 1990, the SPLM was in control of two thirds of
South Sudan while Khartoum controlled only garrison towns of Juba, Wau and Malakal, among
other small stations. The end of the cold war coincided with the end of Ethiopian patronage, Nasir
rebellion that led to the historic split of SPLM in 1991. The movement also suffered military

setbacks and was dislodged in areas it had controlled such as Pibor, Kapoeta and Bor, among
other areas it had occupied during the Bright Star Campaign. Since the formation of the SPLM in
1983, the movement was focusing more on the military defeat of Khartoum regime at the expense

of political program of emancipation and liberation. The military wing, in other words, was
taking precedence over the political wing, with the result that the SPLM lacked internal cohesion
and a non-military approach to politics (SAD.887/9/3-4).

The historical split pitting Riek Machar, Lam Akol and Gordon Kong on one hand and John

Garang on the other, was prompted by Garang’s style of leadership and high handedness internally
and loss of external allies after the end of the cold war. The factions and politics played within
SPLM/A itself. The Nasir faction accused John Garang of being dictatorial and non-consultative.
Furthermore, they pointed out that the movement had poor relations with the people it sought to

liberate. In particular, they argued that the movement failed to provide political education and
consciousness. What is more, John Garang was accused of being a tribalist due to elevation of

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