South Sudan has detained a series of former government figures in what analysts described as a wave of detentions that points to cracks inside President Salva Kiir’s administration, as the government also confronts an armed rebellion. The Associated Press reported that the latest arrest came as Bak Barnaba Chol, a former finance minister, was taken into custody while trying to cross into Uganda. AP said the arrest followed the detention of other former officials, including a former minister of finance and planning, Marial Dongrin Ater, who had been fired in August.
AP reported that over the past week, authorities also detained a former central bank governor, a former undersecretary for the ministry of petroleum, and a general in the domestic intelligence agency who had previously been posted to the same ministry. The publication said the exact reasons for the arrests remained unclear. Government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told Eye Radio that the detentions were “not political” and described them as a response to irregularities found in the monetary system, adding that a committee was investigating “financial malpractices.”
The AP report said Edmund Yakani, a prominent civic leader, described the atmosphere in Juba as tense among politicians who fear detention. Yakani said the arrests so far have mostly targeted financial institutions, but warned that if the arrests extend into the security sectors, “it will be very dangerous.” Daniel Akech, of the International Crisis Group, said the arrests were an indication that Kiir’s “big tent” coalition was narrowing, a coalition he has relied on to manage a fractured political landscape.
The arrests take place against a backdrop of regional economic strain, with AP reporting that the war in Sudan has been hurting South Sudan’s economy. The report said South Sudan is overwhelmingly dependent on oil exports and that all of its oil flows through pipelines in Sudan. AP said pipeline ruptures linked to the Sudan conflict have at times put more than 60% of oil production offline since the war began in 2023, and that the World Bank estimated South Sudan’s economy shrank 24% in 2025.
AP also cited a 2024 warning from the International Crisis Group that disruptions to oil production could contribute to wider political violence as Kiir runs short of “petrodollars” to keep rival generals and warlords aligned. South Sudan is already dealing with an armed rebellion, AP reported, with opposition leader Riek Machar under house arrest and on trial for alleged subversion, a case AP said Machar denies. AP said many of Machar’s allies have been arrested or purged, and that Kiir suspended Machar as his deputy in September after Machar faced criminal charges.
AP reported that Machar’s removal coincided with an increase in violence, with the U.N. estimating that thousands were killed in 2025 and that 280,000 people have been displaced since December. A U.N. inquiry has found that South Sudan’s leaders are “systematically dismantling” the 2018 peace agreement, AP said, an accord signed to end a civil war and return Machar to a unity government with Kiir. Washington is urging peace talks to be resumed, the AP report said.
Falzetta reported from Nairobi, Kenya.