JUBA (Realist English). South Sudan’s first vice president Riek Machar has been formally charged with treason and multiple other serious crimes, the Justice Ministry announced Thursday, deepening concerns that the fragile peace in the world’s youngest nation could collapse.
Machar, who has been under house arrest since March, is accused of orchestrating subversive activities against President Salva Kiir, his longtime rival and partner in a power-sharing government established under a 2018 peace agreement that remains only partially implemented.
According to the ministry, Machar and seven associates face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism, crimes against humanity, and destruction of public property and military assets. The accusations stem from a March attack in Nasir, Upper Nile state, when fighters from the White Army militia overran a government garrison, killing its commander and several others. Authorities allege the assault was directed through “coordinated military and political structures” linked to Machar.
Bringing charges against the vice president threatens to destabilize a nation still reeling from a civil war that left an estimated 400,000 dead between 2013 and 2018. Pro-government forces have been battling militias said to be loyal to Machar, raising fears of a slide back into large-scale conflict.
It remains unclear when Machar will appear in court. His exact location has not been confirmed, though officials said he had been notified of the charges and his constitutional rights.
Machar’s spokesman, Puok Both Baluang, denounced the move as a “political witch hunt,” arguing that South Sudan’s justice system is subject to political interference. Civic activist Edmund Yakani warned that any trial must be held in a competent, transparent court, not what he called “a kangaroo court of law.”
Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic majority, and Machar, a leader of the Nuer community, share a long and bitter history. Both were commanders in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) that fought for independence from Sudan, achieved in 2011, but their rivalry stretches back to the 1990s, when Machar’s splinter faction was accused of massacring Dinka civilians in Bor.
Their feud reignited in 2013 when Kiir dismissed Machar, citing an alleged coup plot. Fighting in Juba between forces loyal to the two men triggered a five-year civil war.
Analysts warn that charging Machar could unravel the already fragile peace deal. “South Sudan is edging dangerously close to repeating its past,” one regional expert said.