SPLA-IO spokesman rules out armed infighting despite leadership crisis

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group will not descend into armed infighting despite a deepening leadership crisis that has split senior officials over who should run the movement in the absence of detained leader Riek Machar, its military spokesman said on Friday.

Speaking to Sudans Post in an interview on Friday, SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel described the dispute as primarily an administrative and constitutional disagreement, ruling out the possibility that it would lead to armed clashes between forces aligned with the rival leadership camps.

“What is currently happening is administrative issues, understanding the constitution of the movement and how it’s supposed to function,” Lam said.

“It is not really something that will trigger violence, as people might think, that maybe there will be clashes between the SPLA-IO forces. That is not going to happen because the SPLA-IO is bigger than an individual or a few individuals.”

The comments follow days of turmoil within the SPLM/A-IO after Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, Machar’s deputy who had been serving as acting chairman and commander-in-chief, suspended interim Secretary-General Regina Joseph Kaba and seven other senior officials on August 31.

Oyet accused the officials of trying to undermine his authority, establish parallel structures and separate the movement’s political and military wings. He described their actions as a “conspiracy and coup attempt” and said his measures were intended to prevent the SPLM-IO from collapsing and disintegrating.

Kaba and other Political Bureau members rejected Oyet’s move and issued a counter-order suspending him, accusing him of defying collective leadership and taking unilateral decisions that had contributed to deaths and divisions within the movement.

Lam said the SPLA-IO military command had endorsed the Political Bureau’s decision and no longer regarded Oyet as the movement’s acting leader.

“Honorable Oyet Nathaniel is not currently the acting chair of the SPLM-IO, but he is just a member,” Lam said. “He will wait for that to be revoked or for him to be reinstated. I don’t know when, but that is something that can only happen when there is another sitting probably done and when there is an investigation as to why he got suspended.”

He said Kaba was now in charge of the political wing while Lt. Gen. Peter Thok headed the military as acting chief of general staff, with communication between the political leadership and forces expected to pass through the military chain of command.

Senior SPLA-IO commanders meeting this week adopted the Political Bureau resolutions, recognized Kaba as Acting Interim Deputy Chair and reaffirmed Thok as the only Acting Chief of General Staff, according to a statement issued by Lam.

Earlier directive from Machar

Lam also said Machar had previously instructed Oyet to halt military deployments and political assignments after some of the changes allegedly contributed to deaths in Nasir and Panyijiar.

“Due to that, we were able to receive a message from our chair and commander-in-chief, which was sent also to Honorable Nathaniel to stop all these deployments for now to avoid the death of these innocent civilians or some soldiers who might have taken matters into their hands,” Lam said.

He said the communication also made clear that responsibility for the army rested with Thok and that instructions to SPLA-IO forces should pass through the acting chief of general staff.

Lam, however, stopped short of saying that Machar had personally approved the Political Bureau’s latest decision to suspend Oyet.

“One thing I’ll be very sincere with you is that when it comes to the status of Dr. Riek currently, I can’t tell whether he is communicating or is not communicating,” he said.

Lam said he nevertheless believed Machar was aware of the developments, arguing that information could reach him despite his detention.

“I can’t rule out completely that he did not get this information,” Lam said. “I know he got and I believe he got this information that Honorable Regina is now the acting interim deputy chair of the SPLM/SPLA.”

Lam provided no evidence that Machar had received the Political Bureau resolution, and his remarks reflected his belief rather than confirmation of direct communication with the detained opposition leader.

Machar has been detained in Juba since March 2025 following a political and security crisis triggered by fighting in Nasir. His prolonged absence has left the movement grappling with questions over how far officials acting on his behalf can exercise his political and military powers.

The SPLM-IO’s official website continued to list Machar as chairman and commander-in-chief and Oyet as deputy chairman this week, though the site may not yet reflect the latest internal decisions.

Asked about statements from some commanders and structures continuing to recognize Oyet, Lam said individual officers could support him personally but insisted that such declarations did not represent the SPLA-IO as an institution.

“The army, the SPLM/SPLA or the SPLA, does not belong to an individual. Let’s just put this clear and everybody should understand this,” he said. “It belongs to the system. It belongs to this movement.”

Lam acknowledged that Oyet retained support among some soldiers, which he linked partly to Oyet’s continued public campaign for Machar’s release.

“If Honorable Oyet moves aside just a little bit and says, ‘I don’t understand the document,’ you will see how many people will say no to him,” Lam said.

“But it is because he still says that, ‘I am still fighting for the release of Dr. Machar.’ Some soldiers still have got that respect for him for that. And that’s why they are standing with him.”

He said declarations of support for Oyet by individual military figures should not be confused with the official position of the army.

“If there are individuals within the army that want to say that they stand with Nathaniel, these are individuals, but not the SPLM-IO,” he said.

Lam rejected suggestions that the current turmoil demonstrated that Machar had failed to prepare the movement to survive his absence.

He said SPLA-IO soldiers remained loyal to Machar and argued that the movement had not prepared for such a situation because Machar had instead sought to unify opposition and government forces under the 2018 peace agreement.

“These soldiers are loyal to Dr. Machar. That’s why up to today, they are dying. They are fighting, they are defending themselves, they are defending the people under their control because of Dr. Machar,” Lam said.

He said Machar’s intention upon returning to Juba was not to preserve the SPLA-IO indefinitely as a separate force, but to have the rival armies unified into a national military under the peace deal.

“That was why we never prepared for this situation,” Lam said. “So it’s not the fault of Dr. Machar. It is just because he loved peace and he wanted change in this country.”

Lam acknowledged, however, that there was bitterness among SPLA-IO soldiers over the decision to return to Juba and place their faith in the peace process.

“People, in fact, including myself, I’m bitter. I’m bitter just like almost every soldier who is bitter in the bush, questioning why did we go to Juba and prepare because people didn’t trust the regime. They know the regime was going to cause problems,” he said.

“We went, but yes, it backfired on us.”

Despite the bitterness within the ranks and the competing claims to leadership, Lam insisted the dispute would remain political and administrative and would not lead to armed infighting within the SPLA-IO.