First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar - courtesy

The main opposition party, SPLM-IO, has demanded lifting of house arrest of its leader, Dr Riek Machar.

“The conference demands that IGAD officially releases Dr. Riek Machar, the first vice president,” reads the resolutions of the SPLM/SPLA-IO 6^TH Annual Conference, which ended on December 5.

The call proves that SPLM-IO leader has been indeed confined to Juba since he returned in early 2020.

Last month, the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Juba said it had written to the region to allow freedom of movement of the co-principal of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

Dr. Machar was previously exiled to South Africa, where the IGAD placed him under house arrest.

He was later relocated to Khartoum and finally to Juba to form the new government of national unity with President Salva Kiir.

Some activists believe the region has not yet withdrawn the restrictions it imposed on Dr. Machar in 2017.

Recently, the minister of information refuted the claims that the first vice president is being restricted from traveling within and outside the country.

“As to where these people got their information is up to them. He has not been restricted,” Michael Makuei stated.

“If he was under arrest or restricted, why should he be performing the official duties? These are stories concocted by sycophants that do not want peace for South Sudan.”

But the SPLA-IO chief of general staff said Dr. Machar has been unable to visit troops at the cantonment sites to update them on the implementation of the revitalized peace deal.