South Sudan’s Co-Ruling Party Signals End of Peace Deal with Arrest of First Vice President
The United Nations mission has called for restraint, as the country tilts closer to another civil war.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (L) exchanges signed documents with former rebel leader Riek Machar in northern Tanzania's town of Arusha on January 21, 2015, as former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete (C) looks on.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) says South Sudan’s 2018 peace deal has ended following the house arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar. Soldiers entered Machar’s residence in Juba, disarmed his bodyguards, and placed him under arrest along with his wife, Angelina Teny, who also serves as the interior minister.
Machar is accused of colluding with the rebel group, the White Army, locked in an armed ongoing conflict with South Sudan’s army. SPLM-IO deputy chair Oyet Nathaniel Pierino said Machar’s arrest “effectively brings the agreement to a collapse; thus, the prospect for peace and stability in South Sudan has now been put into serious jeopardy.”
While Pierino and SPLM-IO have urged the public to remain calm for diplomatic measures to take place, this recent development brings the war-riddled country to the brink of another civil war. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has called for restraint. At the same time, Kenya’s President and East Africa Community Heads of State chair, William Ruto, said he has spoken to President Salva Kiir and will send a special envoy to help de-escalate the situation.
Uganda has deployed soldiers to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, at the request of President Salva Kiir’s government. Uganda’s special forces will assist its neighbor in the ongoing conflict between the South Sudan army and the rebel group in Nasir county, which is threatening to unravel the fragile peace in the previously war-riddled country.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Chief of Uganda’s defence forces (UPDF) and son of long-time Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, shared in a series of X posts that “[Uganda’s] Special Forces units entered Juba to secure it.” Kainerugaba said Uganda “shall protect the entire territory of South Sudan like it was our own.”
Last Friday, a general and dozens of soldiers were killed in an attack on a United Nations helicopter that came to evacuate some troops out of Nasir.
New fears of widespread conflict in South Sudan arrose following the arrests of several politicians by government forces. The minister of peacebuilding and secretary general of the National Transitional Committee, Stephen Par Kuol, was arrested by the National Security Service last week.
Puok Both Baluang, spokesperson for First Vice President Riek Machar, shared the development on X. Kuol's arrest is just the latest of arrests of several prominent politicians allied with Machar.
Petroleum minister Puot Kang Chol and deputy head of the army, Gabriel Duop Lam, were amongst several politicians arrested. Baluang said that no reasons were provided for the arrests, telling the BBC that Machar's party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition, does not know how their officials are or where they are.
In a statement last week, Baluang had decried the deployment of armed soldiers to Machar's residence from late Sunday night to Monday. "These actions erode confidence and trust among the parties and jeopardize efforts to de-escalate the current violence that erupted in Nasir County of the Upper State Nile."
The arrests of Machar-allied politicians have been linked to recent fighting in Nasir between state forces and the White Army militia, which mainly comprises armed fighters from the Nuer ethnic group – where Machar is from.
The White Army fought alongside Machar against President Salva Kiir's forces in the five-year war that happened two years after South Sudan's independence in 2011. The war resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands and displaced over 2.5 million. It ended with a fragile peace deal in 2018. However, armed groups continue to carry out fringe activities, with observers saying the country could be tipped over with any large-scale escalation.
The South Sudanese government has dismissed any notions that a war is brewing; however, Daniel Akech Thiong, senior analyst on South Sudan at the International Crisis Group, told Reuters that the country's fragile peace is "at risk of collapsing."
Last year, South Sudan was scheduled to finally hold its first election, but it was postponed, with the government citing security concerns and financial constraints.This story was originally posted March 6, 2025 at 2:58 p.m. and has been updated.
March 11, 2025 1:13 p.m. Updated to include the deployment of Ugandan troops to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, at the request of President Salva Kiir’s government.
March 27, 2025 4:45 p.m. Updated to include the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and the collapse of the 2018 peace deal.
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