JUBA – The powerful former Presidential Envoy on Pibor Affairs Major General Akot Lual Arech has been released from National Security Service detention facility three weeks after being arrested in Juba.
Akot, who is reportedly a close relative of President Salva Kiir, had not been formally charged and there was no official explanation of the reason for his arrest.
But following his arrest, the Awan Chan Youth Association accused Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, of orchestrating Lual’s detention. The group claimed it was in retaliation for Lual’s opposition to the deployment of Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in South Sudan.
Following his release on Monday, members of the Awan Chan Youth Association, led by John Mawien Maduok, visited Akot at his residence in Juba, where he addressed them.
“When I was arrested on Aug. 2, many young people across South Sudan raised their voices. The Awan community stood strong. This is the true meaning of solidarity,” he said.
His release comes days after President Kiir appointed daughter, Adut Salva Kiir, as senior presidential envoy on special programs — a position viewed by analysts as powerful in the government.
A prominent figure from the Awan Chan community in Warrap State, Akot played a key role in the 2014 peace negotiations that ended fighting between government forces and the SSDM-Cobra Faction, a rebel group led by General David Yau Yau.
