NAIROBI: Kenya has appointed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a special envoy to mediate in South Sudan’s escalating political crisis, as tensions between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar threaten to plunge the country back into conflict.
Machar’s party reported that he has been under house arrest in Juba since Wednesday night, effectively dismantling the fragile 2018 peace agreement that ended a brutal five-year civil war. The deal had established a power-sharing government, but its implementation has been sluggish, with critical aspects like national elections and military unification still pending.
The United Nations has expressed grave concern over Machar’s detention, warning that it brings South Sudan dangerously close to renewed war. The government has accused Machar’s camp of supporting the White Army, a Nuer ethnic militia that clashed with the national army in Nasir earlier this month. Machar’s allies have denied these allegations.
In response to the recent violence, President Kiir’s forces have arrested several key figures from Machar’s camp, including the petroleum minister and a senior army official. Clashes between the two rival factions have also been reported outside the capital, Juba.
Kenyan President William Ruto, who currently chairs the East African Community (EAC), has engaged Kiir in discussions regarding the crisis and is dispatching Odinga to South Sudan to facilitate peace efforts. Odinga is expected to travel to Juba on Friday to assess the situation and report back.
Ruto has also been in talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni—whose forces were deployed to Juba this month at the South Sudanese government’s request—and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has previously hosted peace negotiations for the war-torn country.
South Sudan has been struggling to maintain stability since the 2013–2018 civil war, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The current crisis threatens to undo years of fragile peace efforts.
