South Sudan peace deal in danger of collapsing

A peace deal ending a conflict that killed tens of thousands in South Sudan is in danger of collapsing, raising fears that the world’s youngest nation – and one of its poorest – could swiftly lapse back into war, reports CNN. South Sudan split from the rest of Sudan in 2011 after decades of pro-independence unrest but has struggled to keep the peace in its territory, which is divided along ethnic lines. It plunged into a civil war in 2013 and then again three years later, until the violence was stopped by a fragile ceasefire agreement in 2018. The nation is governed by a coalition government, led by President Salva Kiir and five Vice-Presidents, who include Kiir’s rival Riek Machar, the leader of the SPLM/A-IO party. Machar was arrested last week, prompting the SPLM/A-IO to issue a statement, saying his detention ‘effectively brings the (peace) agreement (between him and Kiir) to a collapse’. ‘The prospect for peace and stability in South Sudan has now been put into serious jeopardy,’ it added. Machar’s arrest followed the sacking and arrest of other prominent officials from the SPLM/A-IO, as well as the arrival of troops from neighbouring Uganda at Kiir’s invitation to help South Sudan’s military fight a local militia. Machar also condemned Uganda’s military intervention in a letter to the UN secretary-general on 23 March, saying it violated the terms of the peace deal.

South Sudan has never held a national election. Its current government is the result of a power-sharing agreement struck in 2018 between Kiir and Machar. The deal ended a five-year-civil war, which killed an estimated 400 000 people. On Friday, authorities confirmed Machar’s arrest, accusing him of encouraging the militia to overrun a military base in Nasir and attack a UN helicopter. The White Army, for its part, denies ties with Machar or his party. Information Minister Michael Makuei said in a statement sent to CNN that since the beginning of March Machar had been ‘agitating’ a rebellion against the government ‘with the aim of disrupting peace so that elections are not held and South Sudan goes back to war’. He cited ‘intelligence and security reports’. Meanwhile, the US has called Kiir to release Machar, reports TimesLIVE. ‘We are concerned by reports South Sudan's First Vice-President Machar is under house arrest,’ Washington's Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X. ‘We urge President Kiir to reverse this action & prevent further escalation of the situation.’

Full CNN report

Full TimesLIVE report