October 24th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s former First Vice President and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon has ordered the nominated members of the yet-to-be formed Independent Border Commission (IBC) to meet and try to find a solution for the border issue in a South-South dialogue according a senior SPLM-IO official.
South Sudan President, Salva Kiir Mayardiit and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon signed the long-awaited revitalized peace agreement in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The agreement, also signed by other opposition groups, came as part of regional efforts headed by the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to try to end the five-year old conflict which has killed thousands and displaced millions.
Speaking to the Nyamilepedia in an exclusive interview on Tuesday evening, the SPLM-IO deputy chairman of the national committee for information and public relations Manawa Peter Gatkuoth revealed that Machar has ordered the nominated committee members to meet as IGAD role to appoint and form the committee is delayed.
According to the agreement, the parties to the revitalized agreement also known as R-ARCSS should nominate members to the committee which is tasked to determine the tribal boundaries and the number of states during the transitional period and submit their names to the regional bloc, the IGAD which would appoint them within two weeks of signing the agreement.
However, despite the submission of the nominees by the parties to the peace agreement, IGAD has not appointed the committee and nothing has yet been done over the issued of the state by the parties.
“Machar told the members of the pre-transitional committee that they are behind the schedule of the agreement. The IBC and TBC are supposed to start their work after signing the agreement but because there is nothing which has been done and because the IBC and TBC have problems over the borders and number of states, he called for an immediate meeting for the committees and parties to the agreement to discuss the issue of the number of states,” Manawa said.
He said Machar, citing IGAD deployment, has told the committee that as long as their names are submitted as the parties’ nominated members, they have to sit and try to find a solution over the number of states before the formation of the IBC and TBC.
“The IBC and TBC are yet to be formed. The IGAD is late but Machar has told them that as long as we have nominated our members from all the parties, the government submitted their names and the opposition has submitted theirs, let them site in a South-South dialogue and discuss the issue of the states,” he added.
He further said is the committee has started their meeting which is under the direct supervision of the Sudanese Foreign Minister saying if the parties reach an agreement over the number of the states, there will be no need for border commission pr a referendum over the number of states in South Sudan.
“They started the meeting this evening under the supervision of Sudan and the Sudanese Foreign Minister Dr. Al-Dirdiry was with them they started tomorrow. They will sit at least for one week if they reach an agreement that will be okay and so there is no need for IBC and TBC or referendum and that is what happened today,” he further said.
