Arop Jonchol
Juba: Al-Naeim Mubarak Kuol
The government of South Sudan has placed the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in opposition,( SPLM-A-IO) under “Juba house arrest.”- A house arrest order was served through the head of the intelligence service, in the presence of the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the South Sudanese government’s defense forces, on the evening of Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
Dr. Machar’s personal bodyguards were disarmed and relocated to undisclosed locations, according to sources within his party. The source also mentioned that Dr. Machar is at his official residence with his wife, Madam Angelina Teny, the Minister of Interior.
Dr. Riek Machar Teny returned to Juba in 2020 without his forces due to pressure from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the international community. He agreed to return to Juba without his soldiers in order to implement the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement aimed at resolving the armed conflict in South Sudan between the government led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the opposition led by Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
Following reports of the detention of South Sudan’s First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (#UNMISS) has called on all parties to exercise restraint, cease hostilities, and uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement in the best interests of the people of South Sudan.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, said: “Tonight, the country’s leaders stand on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict or taking the country forward towards peace, recovery, and democracy in the spirit of the consensus that was reached in 2018 when they signed and committed to implementing the Revitalized Peace Agreement.”
