Riek Machar

Riek Machar
1st & 4th First Vice President of South Sudan
Assumed office
21 February 2020
PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit
Preceded byTaban Deng Gai
In office
26 April 2016 – 23 July 2016[1]
PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byTaban Deng Gai
1st Vice President of South Sudan
In office
9 July 2011 – 23 July 2013
PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit
Preceded byHimself as Vice President of Southern Sudan
Succeeded byJames Wani Igga
2nd Vice President of Southern Sudan
In office
11 August 2005 – 9 July 2011
PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit
Preceded bySalva Kiir Mayardit
Succeeded byHimself as Vice President of South Sudan
Personal details
Born
Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon

(1952-11-26) November 26, 1952 (age 71)[2]
Leer, Upper Nile, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
(Now South Sudan)
NationalitySouth Sudanese
Political partySudan People's Liberation Movement
Other political
affiliations
Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition
Spouse(s)Emma McCune
Angelina Teny
Children4
Alma materUniversity of Khartoum
University of Bradford
NicknameSENNAR[3]
Military service
AllegianceSPLA, SPLA-Nasir, SPLA-IO
Battles/warsSecond Sudanese Civil War
South Sudanese Civil War

Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 26 November 1952) is a South Sudanese politician who has served as the First Vice President of South Sudan since 2020.

A member of the Nuer ethnic group, Machar earned degrees in engineering from Khartoum University and the University of Bradford. In 1984, he joined the Sudanese People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLM/A) rebel group fighting for southern independence during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Due to a rift with SPLM/A leader John Garang, Machar was ejected from the group in 1991, and founded the SPLA-Nasir splinter group. Later that year, Machar was involved in the Bor Massacre, in which his forces took part in the massacre of at least 2000 Dinka civilians. Over the next several years, Machar led several different rebel groups and militias, including the SPLA-United, the South Sudan Independence Movement/Army (SSIM/A), the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) and the Sudan People's Defense Forces/Democratic Front (SPDF), before reuniting with Garang and the SPLM/A in 2002. Following the end of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 2005, Machar was made Vice President of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region with Garang's successor Salva Kiir Mayardit as President. Following the South's gaining of independence in 2011, Machar became Vice President of the independent republic of South Sudan with Kiir as President.

  1. ^ AfricaNews (23 July 2016). "South Sudanese minister replaces 'missing' Riek Machar as vice president - Africanews". africanews.com. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Profile: South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar". Al Jazeera. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  3. ^ Akol 2003, pp. 13.