Simon Gatwech Dual (also spelled Simon Gatwitch) is a Sudanese rebel Major General who was born in around the late 1930s in what is today

Uror County Uror County is an administrative area of Bieh state in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It has nine payams: Pathai, Pieri, Pulchuol, Palouny, Motdit, Motot Motot (also spelled Mwot Tot) is a town in the Uror County of Jonglei Sta ...

Jonglei Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties: Bor, Akobo, Ayod, Uror, Duk, Nyirol, Pigi, Twic East, and Fangak. Jonglei State is the largest s ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

Politics

He joined the

Sudan People's Liberation Movement The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM; , ''Al-Ḥarakat ash-Shaʿbiyyat liTaḥrīr as-Sūdān'') is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA; a key belli ...

(SPLM) under

John Garang John Garang De Mabior (June 23, 1945 – July 30, 2005) was a Sudanese politician and revolutionary leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M, Now known as South Sudan People's Defense Forces) as a co ...

during the struggle against the Sudanese government, and broke away in 1991 when

Riek Machar Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 26 November 1952) is a South Sudanese politician who has served as the vice president of South Sudan on several occasions, most recently as the first vice president, since 2020. A member of the Nuer ethnic group ...

, Gordon Koang and

Lam Akol Lam Akol Ajawin, is a South Sudanese politician of Shilluk people, Shilluk descent. He is the current leader of National Democratic Movement (NDM) party. He is a former high-ranking official in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and subse ...

formed the

SPLA-Nasir The SPLA-Nasir was a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Originally created as an attempt by the Nuer people, Nuer tribe to replace SPLA leader John Garang in A ...

faction. Gatwech led the

Bor massacre The Bor massacre was a massacre of an estimated 5,000 to 20,000 civilians in Bor on November 15, 1991 during the Second Sudanese Civil War. The massacre was carried out mostly by Nuer fighters from SPLA-Nasir, led by Riek Machar, and the militan ...

in November 1991 which included many

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

fighters. He joined the

Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (Abbreviation, abbreviated SPLM-IO), also known as the anti-governmental forces (AGF), is a mainly South Sudanese political party and rebel group that split from the Sudan People's Liberation ...

(SPLM-IO) in 2013 when war broke out in

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

between forces loyal to the president

Salva Kiir Mayardit Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), commonly known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who is the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the List of heads of state of So ...

and those loyal to the opposition led by Machar. Gatwech was appointed as chief of general staff of the SPLA-IO on 21 December 2014 and remains in that position until he attempted to overthrow Machar on 4 August 2021 and returned to Juba following the August 2015 peace agreement between Kiir and Machar. On 4 August 2021, Gatwech made a declaration, the

Kitgwang Declaration The ''Kitgwang Declaration'' was a coup by South Sudanese rebel commander Simon Gatwech Dual on 4 August 2021, in which he replaced Vice President Riek Machar as leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition leading to a d ...

, to announce the removal of Machar as the leader of the SPLM-IO and that he has assumed power as the new leader. On 3 February 2025, Gatwech signed a peace agreement with president Kiir in a ceremony in Sudan in which Gatwech's group would be integrated into the

South Sudan People's Defence Forces The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dual, Simon Gatwech Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Jonglei State Sudan People's Liberation Movement Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition members