•South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (R) and First Vice President Riek Machar
South Sudan’s opposition called today for a mobilisation of its supporters to carry out regime change in response to plans to put their leader on trial for treason and crimes against humanity.
A fragile power-sharing agreement from 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, has been unravelling for months, reports AFP.
On Thursday, Machar was charged with murder, treason, and crimes against humanity and stripped of his position as first vice-president in the unity government, having already spent months under house arrest.
He was accused of ordering an attack on a military base in March by a militia from his ethnic Nuer community that the government said killed more than 250 soldiers.
Machar’s party denies involvement in the attack and says the accusations are part of efforts by President Kiir to sideline him and consolidate power.
“The current regime… is a setup of dictatorship, peace spoilers and state capture that is holding power illegally and by violence,” his party said in a statement signed by acting chairman Oyet Nathaniel Pierino and shared on social media.
The party and its armed forces “shall work to effect in the Republic of South Sudan a regime change,” the statement said, calling on all supporters “to report for National Service in defence of the citizens and the country”.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but was quickly plunged into a devastating five-year civil war between Kiir and Machar that left some 400,000 dead.
The war ended with a power-sharing agreement in 2018, but attempts by the international community to ensure a democratic transition have failed.
Elections that were due to take place in December 2024 were again postponed to 2026.
The United Nations warned earlier this year that South Sudan was “witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress”.
The attack in March took place in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, and was carried out by the so-called White Army, a loose band of Nuer fighters.
Machar’s supporters reject the charges against him.
“The process is a political persecution, not a criminal prosecution,” Juol Nhomngek Daniel, a former lawmaker in Machar’s party, told our correspondent on Friday.
He said Machar’s supporters would soon “reach their limits” and turn to violence.
“The fighting will be disorganised, leading to widespread insecurity,” he added.
