Kenya has appointed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a special envoy to mediate the escalating rift between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, a dispute that risks plunging the country back into conflict.
Kenyan President William Ruto, who currently chairs the East African Community, confirmed he had discussed Machar’s recent detention with Kiir and was dispatching Odinga to help de-escalate tensions and provide a report on the situation.
Odinga’s spokesperson, Dennis Onyango, stated that the former prime minister would travel to Juba on Friday. Machar’s spokesperson, Puok Both Baluang, welcomed the initiative “as long as it aligns with efforts to de-escalate the situation.”
Machar was placed under house arrest in Juba on Wednesday night, a move his party says effectively nullifies the fragile 2018 peace agreement that ended five years of civil war and established a power-sharing government.
The administration has struggled to implement key provisions of the peace accord, including national elections and the unification of rival forces into a single army.
The United Nations warned that Machar’s detention brings South Sudan “one step closer to collapse into civil war,” a spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday.
Baluang confirmed that Machar remains under house arrest but is in good health.
Kiir’s government accuses Machar’s camp of backing the White Army, an ethnic Nuer militia that clashed with government troops in Nasir earlier this month, exacerbating tensions. Machar’s party denies any involvement.
Following the violence, Kiir’s forces detained several of Machar’s key allies, including the petroleum minister and the deputy army chief. Clashes have since erupted between factions loyal to the two leaders both outside Juba and in other areas.
South Sudanese officials have yet to comment on Machar’s detention or Odinga’s mediation efforts.
Ruto said he had also consulted Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who deployed troops to Juba earlier this month at the South Sudanese government’s request, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whose country has previously hosted South Sudan peace talks.
Meanwhile, the African Union announced it is dispatching its “Panel of the Wise,” a group of five senior African statesmen, to assist in resolving the crisis.
Analysts suggest Kiir is consolidating power by sidelining Machar’s allies, bringing in Ugandan troops to secure the capital, and appointing close adviser Benjamin Bol Mel as second vice president.
“The claim that Machar controls the White Army is a convenient distraction from Juba’s deeper political crisis—plummeting oil revenues and Kiir’s controversial move to position Bol Mel as his successor,” said Justin Lynch, managing director of Conflict Insights Group.