South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed Upper Nile State Governor James Odhok Oyay following intensified clashes between government forces and an ethnic militia accused of siding with his political rival, First Vice President Riek Machar.
The move deepens tensions between Kiir and Machar, which flared after the White Army militia drove government troops out of Nasir, a strategic town near the Ethiopian border.
In response, Kiir’s administration detained several senior figures from Machar’s SPLM-IO party, including the petroleum minister and the deputy head of the army, further straining the fragile peace agreement.
The latest standoff has raised fears that South Sudan, which emerged from a devastating civil war seven years ago, could be on the verge of renewed conflict.
In a decree announced on state television Wednesday night, Kiir replaced Oyay—a member of SPLM-IO—with Lieutenant General James Koang Chuol, a native of Nasir.
Machar’s camp swiftly condemned the decision, calling it a serious violation of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement. “This unilateral action undermines the peace deal,” SPLM-IO spokesperson Puok Both Baluang said.
However, Information Minister Michael Makuei defended the move, telling Reuters that Oyay’s dismissal was necessary to restore stability in Upper Nile.
The government has accused SPLM-IO of links to the White Army, a militia largely composed of ethnic Nuer youth who fought alongside Machar’s forces during the 2013-2018 civil war against troops loyal to Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group. SPLM-IO denies any connection.
The ongoing violence around Nasir has already displaced 50,000 people since late February, according to the United Nations, which warned this week that South Sudan is “on the brink of relapsing into civil war.”
