Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Riek Machar
born 1952
Guerrilla commander, first vice-president, and the other half of South Sudan's central quarrel
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the South Sudan Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A doctorate-holding commander of the southern rebellion, vice-president of Sudan's south, and first vice-president of independent South Sudan. His split from John Garang in 1991 and from Salva Kiir in 2013 shaped the country twice over.
Riek Machar Teny took a doctorate in philosophy and engineering at Bradford before joining the Sudan People's Liberation Army, where he rose to command in the Upper Nile.
He was a central figure in the war that ended Khartoum's rule over the south, in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and in the independence of South Sudan in 2011, serving as vice-president of the southern government and then as the new country's first vice-president. He leads the SPLM in Opposition and has returned to and left the government repeatedly under successive peace agreements. Whatever else is true, South Sudan's politics has been a conversation between him and Salva Kiir for thirty years.
He was a central figure in the war that ended Khartoum's rule over the south, in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and in the independence of South Sudan in 2011, serving as vice-president of the southern government and then as the new country's first vice-president. He leads the SPLM in Opposition and has returned to and left the government repeatedly under successive peace agreements. Whatever else is true, South Sudan's politics has been a conversation between him and Salva Kiir for thirty years.
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