Machar’s allies protest dismissals, calls it campaign to dismantle peace deal

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, protested the removal of its officials by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, calling the move a ‘systematic campaign’ to dismantle the peace agreement.

A statement issued by Reath Muoch Tang, SPLM-IO Acting Chairperson of the National Committee on Foreign Relations and former Member of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, said Kiir acted unilaterally and in blatant violation of the 2018 peace deal.

In a series of presidential decrees issued on Wednesday, Kiir fired key Machar allies, including the Speaker of the Council of States, Deng Deng, the First Deputy Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, Oyet Nathaniel, and the SPLM-IO Chief Whip, Farouk Gatkuoth.

“This latest purge is not an isolated incident but the culmination of a systematic campaign to dismantle the peace agreement and exclude the SPLM-IO from the governance of the country,” Muoch said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Muoch accused Kiir of acting on his own without consultation with the party’s leadership, describing it as a violation of the provision of power-sharing composition.

“President Kiir’s actions have now rendered the R-ARCSS null and void. The SPLM-IG has abrogated the peace agreement in the full view of the African Union, IGAD, and the wider international community.”

He called on the African Union, IGAD, and the international community to condemn the violation, saying silence in the face of this breach will embolden further violations, deepen instability, and risk plunging the country back into conflict.

He reiterated the SPLM-IO’s readiness to continue to protect peace and prevent a return to war.

He said the party will continue to uphold the legitimacy of the peace framework, saying without SPLM-IO participation, the current government ‘lacks political and moral legitimacy.’

“We will demonstrate to the people of South Sudan and the peace guarantors and the international community that we have exercised the highest level of restraint and commitment in the face of provocation.”

He called on the international community to place all oil revenues of South Sudan into what he called a “monitored escrow account” to prevent their misuse for war efforts and political repression.

“Immediate international mediation to address the crisis created by this unilateral dismantling of the peace agreement.”