President Salva Kiir on Friday night issued a Republican Order forming a committee to conduct dialogue with the alleged parties to the 2018 Agreement on issues related to elections. The committee is chaired by the SPLM-IG Secretary General, Dr Akol Paul Kordit.
From the outset, this committee lacks inclusivity and therefore cannot resolve the ongoing crisis in South Sudan. The leadership of the parties to the Agreement is itself not inclusive.
Since February 2025, SPLM-IO, under Dr Riek Machar, the First Vice-President of the Republic, has been consistently calling for an inclusive dialogue, as the only viable path to resolving the crisis.
This call has been echoed by the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN), IGAD, the Troika and the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JEMC). However, the dialogue has been hijacked by the SPLM-IG in Juba, despite being a principal signatory to the R-ARCSS.
SPLM-IO has been intentionally excluded from the leadership of the dialogue committee. This exclusion reflects an attempt by SPLM-IG and its allies to isolate Dr Machar and SPLM-IO in order to avoid genuine engagement and a return to the full implementation of the R-ARCSS.
The committee is therefore bound to fail miserably because it does not meet the basic requirements of inclusivity.
There can be no meaningful dialogue without the participation of Dr Machar and the SPLM-IO leadership. Isolating a major party to the Peace Agreement is a clear indication that SPLM-IG and its allies were not for peace. Dialogue among allies alone cannot bring genuine peace to South Sudan. It is a waste of time and resources.
The AU, IGAD, the Troika and R-JEMC must recognize that this committee is not inclusive and will not change the reality on the ground. It should also be noted that Stephen Par Kuol, the purported SPLM-IO interim leader, has not been a member of the party since April 9, 2025, following his personal decision.
The real dialogue must be led jointly by President Kiir and Dr Machar to resolve the crisis. South Sudan should not repeat the tragic mistake that led to the crisis and renegotiations of the First Agreement in Addis Ababa.
SPLM-IO, under Dr Machar, will distance itself from any initiative that seeks to keep the country in a political darkness. I therefore urge IGAD, AU, and R-JEMC, the Troika and the wider international community, to reject such a committee entirely. Instead, they should continue calling for a dialogue between the SPLM-IG under President Kiir and Dr Machar as the only way to restore peace and stability in South Sudan. Any dialogue that excludes SPLM-IO and Dr Machar will not yield any fruits.
We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to peace process through an inclusive dialogue. The continued detention of Dr Machar only deepens the crisis in South Sudan. His release is essential to rescue the country from disintegration and total collapse.
In a nutshell, no dialogue without Dr Machar.
The writer, Dut Majokdit, is the former chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State, Aweil, and Member of the SPLM-IO Political Bureau (Majokdit2024@gmail.com).
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