SPLM-IO Faction Appoints Interim Leadership Amidst Internal Turmoil
Juba, April 9, 2025 – In a significant development within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), a peace partner to R-ARCSS, the recently suspended members mobilized their supporters and held a meeting today, April 9, 2025, at Palm Africa Hotel in Juba. These disgruntled members appointed Stephen Par Kuol as the interim chairman of the party, replacing the arrested chairman and First Vice President Riek Machar Teny.
During the consultative meeting, the group also named Lasuba Wango as the Deputy Interim Chairman and Agok Makur as Secretary General. However, the meeting faced notable absences, with senior SPLM-IO leaders such as Angelina Teny and the party’s Secretary General Regina Kaba boycotting the event.
The action taken by these disgruntled members who were recently suspended amounts to a coup d’état. Stephen Par Kuol was briefly arrested following the assassination of Gen. Majur Dak Thel, which is now being used by President Salva Kiir to dismantle the SPLM-IO. His release now comes with this breakup in the party. The SPLM-IO seems to have been hijacked by these disgruntled politicians in support of President Salva Kiir. Today’s action confirmed that the R-ARCSS is dead.
Though the participants called for the release of Riek Machar, this call is seen by those who boycotted the meeting as shedding crocodile tears. One person, who declined to make his name public, said the coup plotters have no love or sympathy for Chairman Riek Machar Teny.
This political betrayal will haunt the SPLM-IO’s stand in South Sudan politics. It is a replica of what Taban Deng did in 2016 when the war broke out, forcing Riek Machar to run for his dear life. The appointment of interim leaders amidst Machar’s detention underscores the factional tensions and the uncertain future of the party’s leadership.
As the situation unfolds, the SPLM-IO’s path forward remains unclear, with the potential for further internal conflict or reconciliation depending on the actions of its leaders and members. The call for Machar’s release and the appointment of interim leaders reflect the complex and often contentious nature of political movements in South Sudan.
