The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, has warned its senior members against attending unauthorized meetings in Juba. Machar is currently under house arrest in the capital.
The warning follows a Thursday meeting between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and various South Sudanese political parties, including SPLM-IO officials, during his visit to Juba. Museveni was briefed on the implementation status of the 2018 peace agreement.
A group of SPLM-IO officials, reportedly led by Peacebuilding Minister Par Kuol, met the Ugandan leader. Museveni has been a key mediator in regional peace efforts, including brokering South Sudan’s 2018 peace deal that ended a brutal civil war. However, Uganda’s recent military deployments in South Sudan and its support for President Salva Kiir have drawn criticism from the SPLM-IO, which accuses Kampala of interfering in internal affairs.
Museveni’s two-day visit, which concluded Friday, took place amid rising unrest in South Sudan after Machar and some of his allies were detained. The government accuses Machar — a key signatory to the 2018 agreement — of plotting rebellion, a claim his allies deny.
The United States has called for Machar’s release, while the United Nations, European Union, African Union and neighboring countries have expressed concern over his detention. The tensions have prompted several SPLM-IO military and civilian officials in Juba to go into hiding, abandoning their positions.
Kiir and Machar agreed in 2018 to end a civil war between their forces that killed nearly 400,000 people. However, their relationship has grown increasingly strained over the past seven years, marked by tensions and sporadic violence.
SPLM-IO spokesperson Pal Mai Deng told Radio Tamazuj on Saturday that representatives who met Museveni were not authorized by the party’s acting chairman, Nathaniel Oyet, to engage in talks on behalf of the movement.
“If there are members of the SPLM-IO who are engaged in meetings on behalf of the SPLM-IO, it might be out of fear or intimidation by the SPLM-IG [Kiir’s party]. Nobody was assigned to hold meetings with President Museveni on behalf of the SPLM-IO,” he said.
Mai, who also serves as national minister of water resources and irrigation, stated that Oyet Nathaniel, the SPLM-IO’s deputy chairperson and first deputy speaker of parliament, is the only leader managing party affairs in Machar’s absence.
“We have a very clear chain of command. We have the deputy chairman, Oyet Nathaniel, who is the First Deputy Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly. So in the absence of the chairman, he is the one who takes over. We have not taken any decision to replace Dr. Riek Machar; he is still our chairman. But in case of his absence, Oyet takes over temporarily as a matter of portfolio as long as Dr. Machar is still in detention,” Mai said.
He added that the SPLM-IO has pursued diplomatic engagement with regional leaders and the international community to secure Machar’s release, but recent mediation efforts by the African Union’s Panel of the Wise have yielded no tangible results.
“We are not in a position to say what we will do if diplomatic engagements fail, but we still believe that dialogue is the only way to save South Sudan from descending into violence,” Mai said.
When asked about alternative solutions, Mai said preserving the peace agreement now rests with Kiir and his allies, warning that the collapse of the 2018 deal would be the responsibility of the ruling SPLM and the president.
Rejection of Legal Proceedings
Responding to the government’s announcement that Machar would face investigation and court proceedings over allegations of instigating violence in Nasir, Mai dismissed the claims.
“What investigations? I don’t think the SPLM-IG has a reason to take Dr. Machar to court because he has done nothing. They cannot use the Nasir incident — for which they are responsible — as a ploy or a reason to breach the Revitalized Agreement. We don’t accept taking Machar to court; we call for his immediate release from detention, and that is our demand,” he said.
Meanwhile, Reath Muoch Tang, acting chairperson of the SPLM-IO’s Committee on Foreign Relations, confirmed that some members met Museveni without party authorization.
“The SPLM-IO is not engaging in any peace activities as long as our chairman is in detention. Our deputy chairman has instructed members not to engage in any peace activities until our chairman is released,” Tang said.
“There are allegations that the government is working with some SPLM-IO members on how to replace Dr. Machar, but we are yet to confirm those. Anyone from the SPLM-IO who attended a meeting with President Museveni was not delegated by the SPLM-IO leadership,” he added.