The Embassy of South Sudan in Kenya has been closed over alleged unpaid rent, with embassy staff and South Sudanese citizens reporting that the diplomatic mission in Nairobi has been shut since Tuesday, August 11.
According to Radio Tamazuj, the embassy, located in Nairobi’s Kilimani neighbourhood, was closed after the South Sudanese government reportedly fell four months behind on rent payments.
A staff member who spoke to Radio Tamazuj confirmed the closure but said the mission would only reopen after government intervention.
“The embassy is currently closed. It was closed yesterday. The embassy will remain closed until the government intervenes,” the staff member said.
Vantage Ke could not independently establish the exact amount of rent allegedly owed by the South Sudanese government.
The closure has also disrupted consular services for South Sudanese citizens seeking assistance at the mission. One citizen told Radio Tamazuj that he travelled to the embassy to process travel documents but was turned away by security guards.
“I went to the embassy to process some documents, like a travel document, but I found it closed,” he said.
He added that security personnel informed him that the embassy had been shut the previous day but could not provide details on the reason for the closure.
The latest development has raised concerns about South Sudan's diplomatic operations and its ability to maintain functional missions abroad.
Edmund Yakani, a South Sudanese civil society leader, urged the government to prioritise funding for its foreign missions. “The leadership of the country has to prioritise financing our foreign missions as a budget priority,” Yakani said.
Yakani warned that prolonged disruptions at diplomatic missions could have wider consequences for South Sudan's international engagement.
“The absence of functional foreign missions demonstrates a lack of appetite for foreign engagement, which is a strategic mistake in regional and global politics and undermines the pursuit of national interests,” he added.
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Apuk Ayuel Mayen did not immediately provide an official comment by the time of publication.
The closure comes just days after Ambassador Simon Juach Deng, who was recently appointed to lead South Sudan's diplomatic mission in Kenya, bid farewell to President Salva Kiir in Juba on August 6. Deng is expected to take up his post in Nairobi in September.
During the farewell meeting, Kiir urged newly appointed diplomats to uphold professionalism and remain dedicated to representing South Sudan's interests abroad.
The Nairobi embassy has previously encountered financial difficulties linked to rent. In November 2025, the mission was also closed after reportedly falling behind on rental payments. Reports later indicated that Senior Presidential Envoy for Special Programmes Adut Salva Kiir paid three months of rent for the embassy earlier this year.
The latest closure therefore marks another disruption to one of South Sudan's key diplomatic missions in the region.
South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 and has maintained its embassy in Nairobi as an important diplomatic and consular outpost, serving its citizens and facilitating relations with Kenya.
The incident comes against the backdrop of a severe fiscal and cash-flow crisis in South Sudan. The country's economy remains heavily dependent on oil revenues, leaving government finances vulnerable to fluctuations in production and oil prices.
The renewed closure of the Nairobi embassy could further fuel questions over the government's ability to meet its financial obligations and maintain essential diplomatic services abroad.
