JUBA, South Sudan – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed James Odhok Oyay, the governor of the northeastern Upper Nile state, as clashes intensify between government forces and an ethnic militia alleged to have ties with First Vice President Riek Machar.
The move, announced in a decree on state television late Wednesday, deepens tensions in a nation still grappling with the fallout of its devastating civil war.
Oyay, a member of Machar’s SPLM-IO party, was replaced by Lieutenant General James Koang Chuol, who hails from the flashpoint town of Nasir near the Ethiopian border.
The town has been the site of fierce fighting, with the White Army militia forcing government troops to retreat.
The militia, largely composed of armed ethnic Nuer youth, has been accused by Kiir’s government of aligning with Machar’s forces—a claim the SPLM-IO denies.
In response to the escalating violence, Kiir’s administration detained several SPLM-IO officials, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol and the deputy head of the army.
The arrests have provoked outrage from SPLM-IO, which has partially withdrawn from the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement in protest.
“The removal of Governor Oyay constitutes another unilateral action and a severe violation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement,” said Puok Both Baluang, Machar’s spokesperson, in a statement condemning the dismissal.
However, Information Minister Michael Makuei defended the decision, accusing SPLM-IO of undermining the peace deal.
The United Nations has warned that South Sudan is teetering on the brink of another civil war, with fighting around Nasir displacing over 50,000 people since late February.
The White Army, which fought alongside Machar’s forces during the 2013-2018 civil war, has re-emerged as a significant force in the conflict, threatening to unravel the fragile peace established by the 2018 agreement.
Observers fear the confrontation between Kiir and Machar could escalate further, plunging the world’s youngest nation into renewed chaos.
The five-year civil war, which ended in 2018, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions, leaving South Sudan’s population heavily reliant on humanitarian aid.
