Historyof Christianity in the lands of My Toil

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE LANDS OF MY TOIL: PROF. M. M. NINAN
Led by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the independence movement brought to an
end the longest-running civil war in Africa, establishing the world's newest nation.
But the jubilant mood was short lived as almost immediately after independence, divisions emerged
within the SPLM. A power struggle between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar
resulted in President Kiir sacking his vice president and the entire cabinet in July 2013.
By December 2013, President Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup and a full civil war broke out. The
country was split along ethnic lines. Kiir is from the Dinka ethnic group, which constitutes roughly a
third of the population, while Machar is from the Nuer, which constitutes about a fifth. But with nearly
60 ethnic groups, the main factions have broken up into even smaller fighting factions over the years of
the conflict, and some analysts say the major players have begun losing their grip over them.
A peace agreement was negotiated in August 2015 on the condition that Riek Machar would return to
South Sudan as vice president, but the process was delayed on numerous occasions.
Machar returned to the capital in April 2016 as part of the peace deal, where he was sworn in as vice
president again, and a transitional government of national unity was established with Machar and Kiir
coming to a power sharing agreement.
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