Gordon Buay accuses ruling party of violating peace ‘Bible’ by seizing opposition seats

NAIROBI — South Sudanese diplomat Gordon Buay Malek has accused the ruling party of dismantling the country’s fragile peace deal by systematically seizing positions allocated to the armed opposition, likening the agreement to a “Bible” that is now being openly desecrated.

His remarks come amid deepening political turmoil and widespread military confrontations following the arrest of senior opposition leaders and a sweeping reshuffle of the transitional government that has effectively sidelined the country’s main peace partner.

Buay’s comments followed the dismissal on Monday of Angelina Teny, the wife of detained First Vice President Riek Machar, from her role as minister of interior. Her removal eliminated the last remaining high-level official loyal to Machar in the cabinet, completing a purge of opposition loyalists that began with Machar’s arrest in March.

Writing in a prominent political WhatsApp group from Nairobi on Tuesday, Buay warned that the unilateral replacement of opposition officials with ruling party loyalists threatened the very foundations of the state.

“Taking the IO’s position[s] and give it to the SPLM is the violation of the Bible called R-ARCISS,” Buay said, referring to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, the power-sharing pact that ended the five-year civil war.

“If we really want South Sudan to be stable, then, we should give the IO what belongs to the IO and give the SPLM Party what belongs to the SPLM,” he added.

The remarks reflect widening alarm among observers that the erosion of the agreement’s power-sharing provisions could ignite renewed instability in a nation that remains heavily militarized and deeply polarized.

The constitutional crisis stems from the March 26 arrest of Machar, a move that destabilized the unity government formed under the peace deal. His deputy, Nathaniel Oyet, subsequently fled into exile, leaving the opposition leadership vacuum in Juba as key decisions were being made.

In the ensuing weeks, President Salva Kiir has moved to fill vacant portfolios belonging to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO). He has appointed members of his own party or figures aligned with a breakaway faction led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol, an ally of the government.

Opposition officials contend these appointments violate both the letter and spirit of the peace agreement.

Buay, employing biblical metaphors to underscore his criticism, suggested that the government had made a strategic miscalculation by dismissing the political weight of the SPLM-IO.

“I thought that the fear of the IO should serve as the beginning of political wisdom in South Sudan,” he said, arguing that sidelining the opposition risks pushing the country back toward confrontation rather than stability.

The dissent marks a sharp pivot for Buay, who for years served as one of the government’s most vocal defenders on the international stage.

A controversial Nuer politician from Upper Nile State, Buay previously served as chargé d’affaires at South Sudan’s embassy in Washington. There, he cultivated a reputation as a combative diplomat and a fierce critic of both the opposition and international pressure on Juba.

Now operating from Nairobi, Buay’s public criticism highlights deepening fractures within the political establishment as the transitional government consolidates power in the absence of the opposition.

Analysts warn that the continued disregard for the power-sharing framework risks hollowing out the peace process and further destabilizing a country still struggling to recover from years of conflict.