By Matik Kueth
The United States on Thursday appealed to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir to release First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, who was reportedly under house arrest, stressing that it is time for the country’s leaders to demonstrate their commitment to the peace agreement.
Washington’s Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X-Platform on Thursday, calling on Kiir to reverse his action to prevent further escalation.
“We are concerned by reports that South Sudan’s First Vice President Machar is under house arrest. We urge President Kiir to reverse this action and prevent further escalation of the situation,” it stated.
It added, “It is time for South Sudan’s leaders to demonstrate sincerity in their stated commitments to peace.”
On Wednesday, the SPLM-IO reported that the defense minister and chief of national security “forcefully entered” Machar’s residence and delivered an arrest warrant.
Machar, along with his wife and two bodyguards, has been held at his residence after being accused of involvement in this month’s battle between the military and the White Army in Nasir, Upper Nile State.
According to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), which concluded the 2013-2018 civil conflict between Machar’s SPLM/A-IO and President Kiir’s SSPDF, elections in South Sudan were supposed to take place in December 2024.
However, the transitional period was extended due to slow progress in implementing the peace agreement, particularly the unification of forces.
Elections are now scheduled for 2026, but with continuous tensions between Machar and rival President Kiir, the fragile truce appears to be eroding as both leaders refuse to participate in negotiation, and tensions continue to increase.
On March 25, the United Nations warned that recent clashes in Nasir between the SSPDF and the White Army have fueled hate speech and could potentially reignite the civil war along ethnic lines, which was supposed to have ended in 2018.
The SPLM-IO denied any links with the White Army, stating that the White Army operates independently, akin to other armed youth groups in South Sudan, unlike armed factions such as Titbany, Abushok, and Mathianganyor, which are supported by the government with weapons backing the SSPDF.
Peace brokers’ call for calm
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) urged restraint on Thursday morning, saying that the country’s leaders are on the verge of unleashing widespread warfare.
“This will not only devastate South Sudan but also affect the entire region,” UNMISS warned in a statement.
Earlier this month, Kiir’s government detained several officials from Machar’s party, including the petroleum minister and the deputy head of the army, in response to the clashes with the White Army in Upper Nile State.
The civil war, which ranged from 2013 to 2018, has so far killed hundreds of thousands of people in the world’s youngest nation.