By Staff Writer<\/p>\n
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) has condemned what it describes as a “gang-like”, forceful takeover of its National Secretariat in Juba earlier on Friday.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The takeover has been orchestrated by a splinter group led by Stephen Par Kuol who declared himself interim leader.<\/p>\n In a press statement issued by SPLM-IO Spokesperson Pal Mai Deng, the party stated that at approximately 9:00 am, the group of \u201cdefectors\u201d, allegedly accompanied by members of the National Security services, forcibly broke into the SPLM-IO National Secretariat and declared unlawful control of the premises.<\/p>\n “We very much condemn the robbing takeover of the National SPLM-IO secretariat by the disgruntled outlawed group of Hon. Stephen Par Kuol, facilitated by the SPLM-IG’s security operatives,” Pal Mai Deng asserted in the statement seen by this outlet.<\/p>\n The SPLM-IO is urging the “dismissed and outlawed group” to immediately withdraw and vacate the secretariat. The statement referenced a prior attempt by Hon. Stephen Par to obtain the keys to the National Secretariat a week ago, which was reportedly rejected by the party’s Secretary General and the secretariat members. Hon. Stephen Par Kuol, the country’s minister of peacebuilding, asserted that his appointment was to resolve a leadership crisis created by Machar’s detention and the absence of other senior leaders.<\/p>\n However, this move has been met with strong opposition from Machar loyalists.<\/p>\n The SPLM-IO group led by acting chairman Oyet Pierino had previously cautioned its members against attending the meeting that appointed Par, labelling the organizers as “political brokers” who had been suspended from the party.<\/p>\n Following the appointment, SPLA-IO spokesperson Lam Paul Gabriel denounced Par and his supporters as “betrayers.”<\/p>\n The internal strife within the SPLM-IO occurs against a backdrop of a fragile political climate in South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011 but descended into a brutal civil war in 2013.<\/p>\n A 2018 peace agreement brought President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar into a unity government, with elections initially slated for 2023 but subsequently postponed to 2026.<\/p>\n Recent tensions have also been fueled by clashes in the country’s north and reported attacks on opposition forces.<\/p>\n The forceful takeover of the SPLM-IO secretariat signifies a further escalation of the internal power struggle within the main opposition movement, raising concerns about the stability of the already delicate peace process in South Sudan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Staff Writer Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) has condemned what it describes as a “gang-like”, forceful takeover of its National Secretariat in Juba earlier on Friday. The takeover has been orchestrated by a splinter group led by Stephen Par Kuol who declared himself interim leader. In a press statement[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":34761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SPLM-IO-General-Secretariat-premises-in-Juba.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34762,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34760\/revisions\/34762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFurthermore, the party faction under acting chairman, Oyet Nathaniel Pierino who\u2019s in hiding including other members expressed serious concerns about the safety of its members, claiming awareness of a plan by Hon. Stephen Par’s group, allegedly with the assistance of government security operatives, to “eliminate members of SPLM-IO, who refuse to give in (surrender) to them.” In Juba.<\/p>\n
\nIn light of these events, the SPLM-IO is calling on the international community to “place the group on check for being responsible for the ongoing political purge and persecution.”
\nThis latest incident underscores the deepening divisions within the SPLM-IO following the arrest of its leader, Riek Machar, last month and the subsequent appointment of Hon. Stephen Par Kuol as interim chair by a faction within the party.
\nTwo weeks prior, the SPLM-IO witnessed a vote to replace Machar, who remains under house arrest. This move was boycotted by leaders loyal to Machar, some of whom have reportedly fled the country.<\/p>\n