Machar ally says Kiir’s peace deal with Gatwech Dual violates 2018 agreement

JUBA – A senior member of the main opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Riek Machar said on Wednesday that a new peace deal signed between President Salva Kiir and General Simon Gatwech Dual in Port Sudan violates the 2018 revitalized peace agreement and could destabilize the fragile transition.

Dut Majokdit, a member of the SPLM-IO National Liberation Council and a close ally of First Vice President Machar, said the accord reached on Monday and brokered by Sudan risked undermining the ongoing peace process, which Gatwech had criticized over lack of willingness in its full implementation.

“This agreement contradicts the 2018 peace deal, particularly on transitional security arrangements,” Majokdit said in an email to Sudans Post. “The creation of a deputy commander-in-chief position for Gatwech Dual is not provided for in the agreement or in the constitution. It is a serious violation.”

The deal, signed in Port Sudan on Monday February 3^rd, 2025, outlines power-sharing arrangements at national, state, and county levels and includes provisions for the integration of 5,000 troops into the national army as well as the appointment of Gatwech to the position of deputy commander-in-chief of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF).

Majokdit warned that this move could be a pretext for an armed confrontation in Juba.

“How do you train and deploy 5,000 troops in Juba before the return of General Gatwech? There are clear ulterior motives behind this deal,” he said. He also suggested that Sudanese actors might be using Gatwech’s forces for their own purposes.

Majokdit urged Kiir’s government and the other parties to the 2018 peace accord to review the new agreement, insisting that any renegotiations with armed groups should align with the existing peace framework.

“Port Sudan has its own agenda. If the Kitgwangs wants to return, they should implement their previous Khartoum agreements or join the peace process in Nairobi,” he said.

Gatwech Dual, a former SPLM-IO military commander, defected from Machar’s camp in 2021, forming the SPLM-IO Kitgwang faction. An earlier peace agreement he signed with Kiir’s government in Khartoum in January 2022 collapsed within months, with Gatwech later blaming Kiir’s previous security advisor for its failure.

His delegation arrived in Juba on Wednesday following the signing of the latest deal.

South Sudan has struggled to implement key provisions of the 2018 peace agreement, which ended years of civil war but remains fragile amid continued defections and security challenges as conflicts continue in South Sudan’s rural areas and around the capital Juba.