The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) has called for immediate and unconditional release of its leader, Dr. Riek Machar, identifying his continued detention as the primary roadblock to saving the revitalized peace agreement from total collapse.
Machar, a key signatory to the peace agreement and the First Vice President, has been in detention alongside seven co-accused since March, 2025. The group faces allegations of facilitating and coordinating the Nasir attack by the White Army, an incident that resulted in the deaths of over 200 government forces, including a Major General Majur Dak.
Since Machar’s detention, implementation of the peace agreement has stalled significantly, with violations reported across the country.
In an effort to break the impasse, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has begun organizing consultations with different signatories to understand how to move the process forward.
CEPO had conducted consultation with the SPLM-IG on Monday, November 25, 2025.
During a consultation session on Tuesday involving mediators, including women’s groups and faith leaders, SPLM-IO members emphasized that while the agreement has not yet fully collapsed, it is severely threatened. They argued there is no alternative to the current peace pact and that accelerated dialogue is necessary.
However, the SPLM-IO identified several critical issues triggering the ongoing political stalemate. These include a lack of political will, a deep trust deficit, and specifically, the arrest, detention, and trials of key leaders critical to the agreement.
Additional challenges cited were a lack of resources, the arbitrary dismissal of post-holders, poor awareness of the agreement’s terms among the populace, and delays in the unification of forces.
Speaking after the consultation, Yolanda Awel Deng, an SPLM-IO member, expressed gratitude to the mediators but was firm on the party’s prerequisites for advancing to high-level talks.
“We are for ‘South to South Sudanese solutions to make sure that our country is back to peace 100 per cent and our population highly reconciled,” Awel said.
“To actually reach that process, we have prerequisites along the way. Some of those prerequisites go along with the unconditional release of His Excellency the First Vice President, plus all the SPLM-IO leaders in detention.”
Awel explained that only following the releases could a high-level dialogue led by the President and peace partners commence, allowing the country to move out of the transitional period and toward eventual elections.
The SPLM-IO stated that the stalemate surrounding the conduct of election could only be broken when the party leaders sit for a dialogue and come out with a solution.
Meanwhile, Florence Agiba, representing the South Sudan Women Mediators, a diverse group working to contribute to the implementation of the R-ARCSS (Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan), described the deliberations as productive.
“We had great deliberation with SPLM-IO leaders and have agreed to have a dialogue. We’re going to have more of these sessions throughout the week,” Agiba stated.
She expressed appreciation for the SPLM-IO leaders’ willingness to engage in dialogue aimed at salvaging the nation and urged other signatories to join the table for South Sudan to South Sudan discussions.
