South Sudan VP threatens to quit peace deal over firings

South Sudan’s fragile peace agreement is facing new threats after Deputy President Riek Machar vowed to withdraw from the accord over the removal of key officials by President Salva Kiir this week.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Machar made it clear that he would “walk out of the agreement” if Health Minister Yolanda Awel Deng and Gen. Alfred Futuyo Karaba, the governor of Western Equatoria state, were not reinstated within 24 hours. The dismissals also included two other vice presidents and the country’s spy chief.

Machar’s frustration stems from what he views as a violation of the 2018 power-sharing agreement that had been the basis for peace after the country’s civil war. Machar, who returned to Juba in 2018 as the first vice president under the agreement, emphasized that his side “will not tolerate continued violations of the peace deal.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, there was no immediate comment from President Kiir or his government. The 2018 peace agreement, which ended five years of brutal civil war, outlined a power-sharing structure with five vice presidents. South Sudan’s conflict, rooted in ethnic divisions, erupted in 2013 when Kiir’s forces clashed with Machar’s, plunging the newly independent nation into war.

Though the peace deal ended the conflict, South Sudan’s transition to stability has been slow and plagued by unresolved issues, including the failure to implement critical reforms like army unification. Presidential elections, which have been delayed multiple times, are now slated for 2026. The UN has raised alarms over the nation’s ongoing instability, citing missed deadlines and political deadlock as major threats to the country’s future.