Agwelek leader General Johnson Olony in Juba. | Photo: Awan Moses/Eye Radio

The leader of Agwelek faction General Johnson Olony is calling on South Sudanese to join hands with President Salva Kiir in his search for lasting peace in the country.

Olony said people should desist from negative practices that do not unite the citizens.

He said his coming to Juba is not political, but rather a sign of accepting peace in the country.

“I want to call upon all of us to join hands with our President to bring peace and secure a better future for our children,” Olony said in an exclusive interview with Eye Radio in Juba on Wednesday.

“To our people in Upper Nile, they say Johnson destroyed Malakal, now I came to Juba and I accepted to work with (President) Salva. My coming to Juba is not political, and this is my message to the people of South Sudan.”

The military leader said some people have wrongly labelled him as tribal.

“South Sudanese sometimes do not understand the reality. They say Johnson is tribal, but this is not true, I’m not tribal. Someone who is not staying with me may say I’m tribal, but if you stay with me, you will know the truth about me.”

General Johnson Olony arrived in the capital Juba over the weekend, kicking off the implementation of a deal to integrate his group into the government.

Olony and high-ranking members of his delegation including 1st Lt. Gen Thomas Mabor Dhel and 1st Ltn. Gen. Beny Muon returned to the capital for the first time in nine years.

The SPLM party of President Salva Kiir and the SPLM-IO Kitgwang signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement to end the factional conflict in Upper Nile and Jonglei states.

His former colleague, General Simon Gatwech later abandoned the agreement after voicing reservations about the terms of the deal.