The Plot to Forcefully Retire Riek Machar Through Courts

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar at Juba airport on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023 (PPU photo)

 Kiir’s attempt to forcibly retire Machar is both politically and morally illegitimate and will fail

James Gatdet Dak Lampuar

September 15, 2025

It is important to remind the public that the ongoing political drama, which began in 2013 and has since evolved into a legal case, is partly about leadership succession.

Every South Sudanese who is familiar with politics in the country knows that the two leaders supported each other in the pre-independent South Sudan during the 2010 general elections when the whole of Sudan was still one nation.

The duo won the presidential election with a landslide victory as ‘running mates’ against Dr. Lam Akol, who was the only opposition candidate vying for the top office.

Dr. Machar vigorously campaigned for Kiir in his strongholds, urging people to vote for Kiir and saying that a vote for Kiir was the same as a vote for him.

However, Machar was not happy with how Kiir was allowing corruption to grow horns and kill development with impunity under his watch as the ‘Pen Holder.’

Machar also made those concerns known to Kiir. At one time, Kiir reluctantly wrote an infamous letter to 75 senior officials whom he said had stolen a total of 4 billion US dollars from the government, and ‘politely asked’ them to return the money. Nobody responded, and the matter died naturally.

Despite all that, the working relationship between Kiir and Machar at the time could still be described as fairly friendly until the 2013 crisis.

The genesis of the 2013 crisis began to emerge when the ruling SPLM party conducted its internal assessment throughout the country. In the end, the party’s General Secretariat in Juba reported that the SPLM had lost both vision and direction and needed a rescue. People pointed fingers at the Chairman, Kiir, for failing the Party.

Meanwhile, the first general elections in South Sudan as an independent nation were slated for 2015. This necessitated the SPLM to come up with a flag bearer. It was a choice to either confirm Kiir or select any other contestant, since the Party’s constitution allowed for anyone to contest the Chairmanship.

When Dr. Machar, Hon. Pagan Amum (former SPLM SG), and Mama Rebecca Nyandeng (a current Vice President) expressed their interest in becoming flag bearers, everything fell apart. Kiir’s only way out was to fake a coup and violently remove Machar and the others from the capital. The supposed democratic leadership succession process was aborted. War broke out.

Since that time—whether in 2013, 2016, 2018, or 2025—President Kiir, with tribal undertones behind his rivalry, has made sure that he will never implement a peace agreement with Machar and others that would attempt another democratic process to remove him or introduce reforms to loosen his grip on power.

But here is the challenge.

Kiir has now realized that even if his use of force and authoritarianism could keep him in power indefinitely, nature will not allow it. His illness, coupled with ageing, is fast catching up with him. Surprisingly, he does not want to seek timely and intensive medical treatment. Due to this health uncertainty, he is seeking a successor to appoint—preferably someone close to his family who can safeguard his legacy, wealth, and family interests before he relinquishes power.

But with Machar as the main heavyweight in South Sudan’s politics and the main opposition leader, Kiir’s personal pick would not survive a democratic process or election. After all, no other pick from his circles will enjoy the historical recognition that President Kiir has—being the only remaining founding member of the SPLA/SPLM from 1983—although he has now failed the nation.

These disturbing thoughts, which not only lack nationalism but are also selfish, have led him and his cohorts—in violation of Machar’s human rights—to ensure they first do one of the following:

Eliminate Machar (God forbid); or

Forcibly retire Machar from politics (God forbid).

The first option, to eliminate Machar, is currently not popular even among Kiir’s inner circles. They understand its serious generational implications unless Kiir does not care what would happen after him. It also has no legal or moral basis, not to mention its regional and international repercussions.

The second option is what Kiir is now trying to pursue through fabricated charges in a would-be kangaroo court.

Kiir, an expert in playing the victim while feigning innocence, wants to achieve two things in this illegal scheme:

Kiir wants Machar to be falsely convicted of manufactured crimes. He knows his own party created the Nasir crisis; they purposely grounded Major General Majur Dak in Nasir for an extended period so he would be killed in the persistent conflict with armed civilians known as the ‘White Army.’ This conflict had been ongoing for years as Kiir’s forces looted from civilians and raped women in Nasir. They also refused Machar’s advice to instead deploy unified forces in Nasir as per the security arrangements in the R-ARCSS, in order to finally use the situation as a pretext. They exploited Machar’s good relationship with the older generation’s White Army from the 1990s, even though he never ordered them to carry out attacks. If Machar is convicted in a complicit court, Kiir would then issue a pardon to free him. By doing this, he would have tarnished the name of his political rival as a convicted criminal while receiving public praise as a forgiver.

Because the law dictates that any person convicted of a crime cannot run in presidential elections, Kiir would use this to forcefully retire Machar, at least for a period of time, until the 2026 elections are conducted.

Rubbish! They will fail, FINALLY!

This nonsensical and illegal court process must be stopped. It does not serve the interests of the people of South Sudan. It does not serve peace and reconciliation. It only fans the flames of fire, disunity, and disintegration. Free Dr. Machar unconditionally, and undo any other anti-peace action.

If there are any wise advisors around President Kiir, which I doubt, they should advise him against this dangerous trajectory.

If Kiir is serious, let the Hybrid Court be established per the R-ARCSS, so that he himself can answer for the 2013 massacres of thousands of innocent civilians in Juba.

This nonsense will backfire badly, and those who are ignorantly and momentarily celebrating this dangerous path will ultimately regret it.

If people do not act, God has a thousand ways to solve a problem. He will activate one at the right time.

Dr. Machar will prevail, and South Sudan shall be free at last!

The writer is the author of a number of booklets and the longest-serving Press Secretary in the Presidency in South Sudan. His views are personal. He can be reached at: jamesdak2018@gmail.com.