By Sheila Ponnie

South Sudan’s main opposition party says it will not take part in any further peace talks unless Dr. Riek Machar, the country’s First Vice President who is facing charges including genocide and crimes against humanity, is released from detention.

In a February 10 letter to President William Ruto, the SPLM-IO said the talks cannot proceed without Machar at the table. Ruto is the chief mediator in the latest peace talks between the South Sudan government and the main opposition group, dubbed the “Tumaini Initiative.”

“For SPLM-IO to participate in the Tumaini Initiative, where SPLM-IG (Kiir’s party) is also a participant… we demand the unconditional release of Dr. Riek Machar, and he must be delivered to the venue of the peace talks in Nairobi,” read the letter signed by Nathaniel Oyet, SPLM-IO Acting Chairman.

Machar was placed under house arrest in March 2025. President Salva Kiir’s government accused him of murder after a militia group, predominantly from the ethnic Nuer community, overran an army garrison in February that year, killing more than 250 soldiers and a top army commander.

Machar is the leader and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–in Opposition (SPLM-IO). He is also a member of the Nuer ethnic group. South Sudan’s conflict has largely followed ethnic lines, pitting forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, against those aligned with Machar, a Nuer. The Dinka community dominates the government and key public institutions, while the Nuer constitute South Sudan’s second-largest ethnic group.

A 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement ended a bloody civil conflict that killed over 400,000 people, according to United Nations (UN) data.

Although he was later incorporated into the Transitional Government of National Unity as First Vice President, Machar’s movement has been largely confined to the capital since his return from exile in South Africa in February 2020.

He previously fled the country after a fallout with President Kiir in 2016, when fighting broke out as the two leaders were meeting at the president’s residence in Juba. Kiir accused Machar of attempting a coup.

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“He (Machar) was effectively put under confinement, with freedom of movement—including movement within Juba and official visits to other states—refused… The release of Machar and other political detainees shall only be evident if they are free to travel and participate in the peace talks outside South Sudan,” Oyet, who also serves as the Deputy Speaker in the country’s National Parliament, added.

Kiir, 74, suspended Machar from his position as Vice President. Machar’s party says the move violated the peace agreement.

“President Kiir has persistently violated the agreements… we cannot afford to lose more lives and destroy the country,” Oyet added.

The Kenya-led high-level mediation was launched in May 2024. It was meant to bring on board holdout groups left out of the 2018 framework (R-ARCSS) signed between Kiir, Machar, and other political parties, with key focus on restructuring South Sudan’s security sector, establishing a permanent constitution, and addressing the root causes of conflict in the country.

Photo: Riek Machar in Court

The Nairobi talks have faced several postponements due to a lack of proper alignment with the existing 2018 peace agreement, which brought relative peace to South Sudan.

The opposition says it has lost hope in the Nairobi talks, citing the direct involvement of Kiir as a co-principal, alongside President William Ruto as the principal facilitator.

“If there is any attempt to discard R-ARCSS (Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan) and to negotiate another agreement as seen in the framework of the Tumaini Initiative, SPLM-IO expects to be notified that R-ARCSS is dead. We also want to state in no uncertain terms that President Kiir is president on the basis of R-ARCSS. He will cease to be president if R-ARCSS is dead,” Oyet added.

The latest round of talks, which was scheduled to begin on 9 February, failed to take place in Nairobi.

South Sudan’s peace guarantor, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which also sits in the Tumaini peace talks, said the issues raised by the opposition are “good demands.”

“From the mediator’s point of view, this is actually a good demand. It will be one of the issues that the mediators will look into. We will advise our principals on the way forward,” said Dr. Mohammed Ali Guyo, Deputy Chief Mediator.

South Sudan will be among the key agenda items during the IGAD/African Union Summit set to be held in the Ethiopian capital on 15 February.

South Sudan’s government says the Tumaini Initiative will “bring lasting peace” to the country.

However, South Sudan continues to experience conflict. Fighting between government and opposition forces has been ongoing for the past year.

Last week, the national army spokesperson revealed that soldiers captured by opposition forces had been killed.

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Photo: Nathaniel Oyet, SPLM-IO Acting Chairman.