South Sudan’s deputy president, Riek Machar, has raised alarms over a Cabinet reshuffle that could unravel the country’s fragile peace agreement.
The reshuffle, which removed several senior officials, includes the dismissal of key figures such as Health Minister Yolanda Awel Deng and Gen. Alfred Futuyo Karaba, governor of Western Equatoria state.
Machar, whose political rivalry with President Salva Kiir once fueled a devastating civil war, is calling for the reinstatement of the sacked officials. He warned that the unilateral dismissals undermine the 2018 power-sharing agreement that ended the conflict.
The peace deal, which ended five years of brutal civil war, granted Machar the position of first vice president. Machar stated that Kiir’s repeated violations of the agreement could jeopardize its survival.
“There is a real threat to the existence of the agreement,” Machar said. “Unilateral decisions like these shake the very foundation of our peace process.”
Kiir’s government has yet to respond publicly to the accusations. The reshuffle includes the removal of two other vice presidents and the spy chief.
The 2018 agreement, which was mediated with international support, created a fragile coalition government with five vice presidents. Despite hopes for stability after South Sudan’s independence in 2011, the country plunged into civil war in 2013 due to ethnic divisions between Kiir and Machar’s forces.
Although the 2018 peace deal marked a hopeful turning point, its implementation has been slow. Key reforms, such as army unification, remain incomplete. Presidential elections, already postponed multiple times, are now slated for 2026.
United Nations experts have expressed concerns that the country’s stability is at risk if political gridlock continues.
