In an order dated August 31, Oyet, who serves as acting chairman and commander-in-chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/SPLA-IO), suspended Regina Joseph Kapa from her position as interim secretary-general alongside senior political officials and the movement’s representatives in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The order said the suspensions took effect immediately and cited provisions of the opposition group’s constitution, code of conduct and resolutions adopted by previous party conferences.
In a separate five-page statement issued the same day, Oyet gave a broader explanation for the move, accusing a group of Political Bureau members living outside South Sudan of attempting to undermine his authority and restructure the movement while Machar remains detained.
Oyet said he had seen “yet another attempt to destabilize the SPLM/A-IO” and accused some Political Bureau members of holding what he described as illegal meetings aimed at changing the movement’s constitutional order.
He said a similar meeting had been held in May 2026 and accused participants of seeking to strip the office of the acting chairman and commander-in-chief of powers granted to it under the SPLM-IO constitution.
Oyet also said the group had attempted to establish parallel structures and lines of communication involving the secretary-general and other senior officials. He pointed to another statement issued on August 29 and signed by Kapa, saying it reaffirmed earlier resolutions that, in his view, would weaken the authority of his office.
Oyet said the arrangement would effectively transfer executive and administrative powers from the chairman’s office to the secretary-general and a section of the Political Bureau.
He described that effort as “illegal and unconstitutional” and said it was aimed at “creating paralysis in the Movement and separating the Political and Military Wing.”
Oyet said the internal dispute had developed in the aftermath of Machar’s detention, when much of the SPLM-IO leadership was either detained in Juba, remained under government restrictions or left the capital.
He said the situation had produced deep differences within the movement over how to respond to the government and how the SPLM-IO should be led in Machar’s absence.
According to Oyet, those differences developed into disputes over appointments, military operations, organisational decisions and the authority of the acting chairman. He accused some members of sabotaging his decisions and attempting to remove him from the acting chairmanship.
“Executive powers and decisions were being sabotaged and contested,” Oyet said, adding that there had also been attempts to separate the military wing from the political leadership.
Oyet further accused some officials of portraying him as disloyal to Machar and of accusing him of trying to consolidate power or prepare a succession plan. He rejected those claims and instead described the August 29 statement by Political Bureau members as part of a wider effort to weaken his authority.
“In a nutshell, the statement issued by the members of the Political Bureau has been long overdue and is not a new development,” Oyet said, describing it as an effort to “paralyze the powers of the Acting Chairman and Commander-in-Chief.”
He said the suspensions were therefore being imposed as security measures intended to prevent the movement from breaking apart.
“In light of the above conspiracy and coup attempt, the Office of the Acting Chairman hereby takes the following security measures to salvage the SPLM-IO from collapse and disintegration,” Oyet said before listing those suspended.
The suspended officials are Kaba; Gabriel Gabriel Deng, chairperson of the National Committee for Peace and Reconciliation; Pal Mai Deng, chairperson of the National Committee for Information; Matata Frank Elikana, chairperson of the National Committee for Governance Affairs; Paul Baba Ezbon, chairperson of the National Committee for Transport Systems; and Reath Muoch Tang, deputy chairperson of the National Committee for Foreign Affairs.
Oyet also suspended James Oryem as SPLM/SPLA-IO representative to Kenya and Jordan Manpiny as the movement’s representative to Ethiopia. The order was copied to Machar, senior SPLM-IO political and military officials, the suspended members, all units of the movement and the media.
The latest purge comes as Machar’s continued detention fuels growing rifts inside the SPLM-IO and raises increasingly difficult questions about authority within a movement that has long revolved around his leadership.
Machar was detained in Juba in March 2025 amid a worsening political and security crisis following fighting in Nasir County in Upper Nile State. With Machar unable to exercise day-to-day control over the organisation, Oyet assumed leadership responsibilities in an acting capacity.
But his decisions have not always been accepted by officials and commanders within the movement.
Some SPLM-IO figures have previously attempted to resist decisions involving county commissioners who had originally been appointed under Machar, while military officers have also challenged or rejected appointments and reassignments issued by Oyet.
Those disputes have highlighted a broader question within the opposition group over how far Oyet’s acting authority extends while Machar remains the substantive chairman and commander-in-chief.
The movement has also been divided by a rival Juba-based leadership faction, further complicating its internal command structure.
Oyet’s statement suggested that the disagreement has now moved beyond rival factions and into the senior ranks of the Machar-aligned leadership itself.
All the officials suspended on Monday have remained aligned with Machar and opposed efforts by rival figures in Juba to take control of the movement. Their suspension therefore represents one of the most significant internal ruptures within Oyet’s own camp since Machar’s detention.
Oyet also warned Angelina Teny, Machar’s wife and a senior SPLM-IO figure, over what he described as secret negotiations involving government-linked figures, accusing such contacts of contributing to what he called the “disorientation and destabilization” of the movement.
The statement did not say whether Machar had approved the suspensions or had been consulted before they were issued.
