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SPLM-IO Split and New Health Minister Appointment in South Sudan

In a late-night decree that has stirred the volatile political waters of South Sudan, President Salva Kiir appointed Sarah Cleto Rial as the new national health minister, sidelining the main SPLM-IO faction and intensifying the factional split within the country’s opposition group.

The presidential decree, aired on state television SSBC, introduces Rial, a former governor and a member of the newly formed SPLM Interim Leadership. This appointment comes at a critical time when the Health Ministry has been leaderless, exacerbating ongoing health emergencies such as cholera and mpox outbreaks.

Prior to this appointment, the ministry’s top position was vacated following President Kiir’s removal of Yolanda Awel Deng on February 10. Deng was a senior figure from the SPLM-IO faction led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, who has been under house arrest since March 26.

“The political bureau calls on President Salva Kiir to uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement, as persistent violations through unilateral decisions and decrees threaten the very existence of the agreement,” Machar said in a statement issued in Juba.

The 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement, which is often cited in these political discussions, specifically grants the Machar-led SPLM-IO the prerogative to nominate the health minister—a protocol grossly overlooked with Rial’s appointment.

Promptly responding to the announcement, Pal Mai Deng, the SPLM-IO spokesperson under Machar, criticized the appointment during an interview with Radio Tamazuj. Deng argued that Rial is not part of their faction and reiterated their call for Deng’s reinstatement.

“We have received information about the appointment of Sarah Cleto as minister of health, but it is the same thing—the president has chosen violence over the implementation of the peace agreement. The president acts with impunity; we did not recommend Sarah to be appointed as minister of health,” Deng stated.

This political schism widened in early April when the SPLM-IO split into two factions. A Juba-based group led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol announced an interim leadership, pledging to continue working on the peace agreement with Kiir’s government. This move was not supported by several senior SPLM-IO officials, who declared their allegiance to Machar, recognizing Oyet Nathaniel as the acting chairman until Machar’s release.

By late April, officials aligned with President Kiir had begun to advance plans to implement the 2018 peace agreement without the faction led by Machar, formally recognizing Kuol’s new SPLM-IO group.

Further consolidating this new political trajectory, President Kiir also issued decrees altering local leaderships. Notably, he replaced Butrus Ruai Biel, the SPLM-IO-appointed commissioner of Fangak County in Jonglei State, installing Johnson Kuol Gai Nyok in his stead.

The health sector, critical to the nation’s welfare, particularly in times of outbreak, remains a chess piece in South Sudan’s complex political game. The appointment of Cleto, though legally contentious, marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle between maintaining old political alliances and forging new paths in the face of a fracturing opposition.