President Salva Kiir’s recent appointment of James Mawich Makuac—a member of a splinter faction of the SPLM-IO—as Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation has ignited political controversy, with critics arguing the move breaches the 2018 Peace Agreement.
The appointment made public on Wednesday, August 6, bypassed First Vice-President Riek Machar’s faction, which under the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) holds the right to nominate candidates for this position.
Former minister Pal Mai Deng, loyal to Machar, fled Juba citing security fears after Machar’s detention, and has now been officially replaced. Deng labelled the replacement as a calculated political manoeuvre by Kiir’s SPLM or the breakaway SPLM-IO faction led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol, warning that more Machar loyalists could face similar ousters.
Civil society voices have condemned the move as a dangerous erosion of the fragile peace pact. Rights activist Ter Manyang Gatwech described the unilateral appointment as a blatant violation of both the letter and spirit of the agreement, warning that sidelining Machar’s camp threatens to unravel the transitional process.
The SPLM-IO itself fractured in April, with Kuol’s Juba-based faction aligning with Kiir, while Machar’s loyalists maintain their opposition. The peace deal—designed to end years of civil conflict and pave the way for elections—remains stalled, with key provisions such as the drafting of a permanent constitution and army unification still unfulfilled. With elections postponed to December 2026, Kiir’s latest move deepens fears that South Sudan’s path to democratic stability is faltering.