On 17 April 2026, the Council of Ministers convened an extraordinary meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir and attended by the four Vice Presidents. The meeting took place in the absence of the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, as well as SPLM-IO nominees in the executive, following their unilateral removal.
During the meeting, the Minister of Justice, Hon. Michael Makuei, presented a unilateral amendment to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), reportedly proposed by the SPLM-IG and its allies. Following the meeting, the Minister of Information and official spokesperson of the R-TGoNU, Hon. Michael Makuei (or Ateny Wek—please confirm correct attribution), announced that the proposal had been approved by the Council of Ministers and would be submitted to Parliament for consideration. He stated that the objective was to delink certain provisions of the Peace Agreement in order to facilitate elections within the year.
This unilateral proposal has been rejected by other signatory parties to the 2018 Agreement signed in Addis Ababa, which ended the conflict. It has also been rejected by the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), the African Union (AU), and members of the United Nations Security Council.
The SPLM-IG now faces a critical choice: either pursue the release of Dr. Riek Machar and engage in an inclusive political dialogue, or risk further undermining the legitimacy of the current transitional government.
Any attempt to unilaterally amend the Peace Agreement risks weakening the legitimacy of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) and rendering it ineffective. According to the Agreement, amendments must be undertaken by the signatory parties, not by the Cabinet or Council of Ministers, whose mandate is to deliberate on national policy issues.
Such issues include, among others, the shortage of cash in the banking system, rising commodity prices in markets such as Konyo Konyo, challenges in the education sector, weak health service delivery, and the need to strengthen agricultural production to address food insecurity in South Sudan.
The Council of Ministers is not a signatory to the Peace Agreement and therefore does not hold the authority to amend it. The SPLM-IG, including members of the Transitional National Legislature, must recognize that any unilateral attempt to amend or reinterpret the Agreement risks delegitimizing both the R-TGoNU and Parliament.
The legitimacy of the government is derived from the R-ARCSS. If the Agreement is effectively set aside in favor of reverting to the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan (2011, as amended in 2015), the country would face a serious constitutional and political vacuum.
The African Union Ad Hoc High-Level Committee, together with IGAD, has consistently emphasized that the communiqué endorsed by regional stakeholders and the SPLM-IO under Dr. Riek Machar outlines the appropriate way forward.
Recent discussions at the United Nations Security Council have reinforced this position, with both the United States and the United Kingdom calling for an inclusive political dialogue.
The international community has broadly urged a joint and inclusive dialogue led by President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar to resolve the current crisis, overcome the political stalemate, and ensure the full implementation of the R-ARCSS.
The recent visit by the AU envoy and former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete was part of a fact-finding mission aligned with the AU C5 communiqué, which calls for the unconditional release of the First Vice President and other political detainees to facilitate dialogue.
The anticipated visit of an African Union Peace and Security Council delegation from Addis Ababa, led by an Ethiopian representative, represents another effort to break the deadlock. Similarly, the upcoming United Nations Security Council session in New York to renew the UN mandate underscores continued international engagement.
However, these efforts risk being undermined if they are not adequately embraced by the incumbent authorities, who appear reluctant to fully commit to the agreed peace framework.
The writer, Dut Majokdit Nyikok, is a member of the SPLM-IO Political Bureau and former Chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State (Aweil). He can be reached at Majokdit2024@gmail.com
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.
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