{"id":322730,"date":"2026-01-21T15:21:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=322730"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:21:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:21:03","slug":"south-sudan-president-kiir-fires-interior-minister-wife-of-detained-vp-machar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=322730","title":{"rendered":"South Sudan: President Kiir fires interior minister, wife of detained VP Machar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/61\/95\/62\/400x225_cmsv2_fbdfc729-1cac-5c0f-a411-f303b7c1142f-9619562.jpg\" alt=\"South Sudan\u2019s president fires interior minister, wife of detained VP Machar\" width=\"433\" height=\"244\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>JUBA, Jan 21 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) &#8212; The president of South Sudan has dismissed his interior minister, the wife of a detained opposition leader with whom he was running a unity government following a peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Salva Kiir on Monday evening removed Interior Minister Angelina Teny, a senior opposition figure and the wife of detained First Vice President Riek Machar. No reasons were given for the dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kiir replaced her with Aleu Ayieny Aleu, a veteran loyalist who previously served as interior minister from 2013 to 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move further weakens the 2018 peace agreement, which allocated the Interior Ministry to the opposition under a power-sharing arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The opposition accused Kiir of undermining the power-sharing framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Machar, a former rebel leader who joined the unity government in 2020 following the peace agreement, remains in detention with several associates, facing treason charges linked to violence in Nasir in Upper Nile state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forces loyal to Machar, alongside allied White Army fighters, have made gains against government forces in Jonglei state. They recently captured Pajut, a strategic town in Duk County on the main road to Bor, the state capital, heightening fears of a broader offensive. The government has deployed reinforcements in an attempt to secure Bor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clashes have also flared in recent weeks in Unity, Upper Nile, and parts of Central and Eastern Equatoria states, alarming regional and international observers who warn of a wider escalation and the unraveling of fragile security arrangements. Key provisions of the 2018 peace deal \u2014 including security sector reforms and the unification of forces \u2014 remain unimplemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teny had headed the ministry since a reshuffle in March 2023, when Kiir transferred her from the defense portfolio and assumed control of the defense ministry himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She has been largely absent from the Interior Ministry since March 2025, when Machar was placed under house arrest. In June 2025, security agents reportedly confiscated her phone, laptop and a modem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pal Mai Deng, spokesperson for the opposition, on Tuesday described Teny\u2019s removal as \u201ca clear sign of desperation\u201d and said it reflected a government that is \u201ccrumbling under pressure\u201d as the security situation deteriorates. &#8212; NNN-AFRICANEWS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JUBA, Jan 21 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) &#8212; The president of South Sudan has dismissed his interior minister, the wife of a detained opposition leader with whom he was running a unity government following a peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war. President Salva Kiir on Monday evening removed Interior Minister Angelina Teny, a senior opposition figure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322730"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322737,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322730\/revisions\/322737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}