Juba, South Sudan,
March 20, 2022 – South Sudan’s First Vice President and leader of the main armed opposition party, SPLM/A-IO, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, raised numerous concerns during the recent visit of the Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, accusing president Salva Kiir of intentionally refusing to implement the revitalized peace agreement.
In a private letter addressed to the Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the First Vice President of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, accused president Kiir of refusing to implement the peace agreement in letter and spirit citing numerous events in which president Kiir went astray contrary to the R-ARCISS.
In a communiqué addressed to the Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, Machar revealed that he organized a consultative meeting of the political bureau of the SPLM/A-IO and SPLM/A-IO heads of peace mechanisms ahead of Al-Burhan’s arrival to review the status of the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement.
“The SPLM/SPLA (IO) Political Bureau met on 11th-14th March, 2022, in Juba, Republic of South Sudan to review the status of the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) 2018″ Reads part of the communique.
“The Political Bureau consulted reports from the Peace Implementation Mechanisms namely: RJMEC, NCAC, SDSR, IBC, CTSAMVM, JDB, JMCC, JTSC, SSM and DDR. The Political Bureau also received presentations from the members of SPLM/SPLA (IO) assigned in the RTGONU,” Communique continued.
According to the First Vice President, the opposition leadership is distressed by president Salva Kiir’s intransigence to implement the peace agreement as signed.
In the communique, Dr. Machar stressed president’s “rejection and refusal to appoint nominees of SPLM/SPLA (IO) to positions allocated to SPLM/SPLA (IO) in RTGONU and State levels” and president Kiir’s refusal to appoint the “Governor of Upper Nile State, Presidential Advisor, Deputy Minister of Interior, Minister of Health, Commissioner of Kajo-keji County in Central Equatoria State.”
Machar also accused president Kiir of “Unconstitutional suspension by Governors of State Ministers and Commissioners in Central Equatoria, Unity, Lakes and Jonglei States without prior information to their respective parties.”
The First Vice President also stressed the arbitrary arrest of SPLM/A-IO officials in Lakes, Warraps and Northern Bahr el Ghazal state
“Arbitrary arrest of Commissioners of Yirol West County in Lakes State and Tonj East County in Warrap State by the Governors, and intimidation of constitutional post holders from other parties particularly in the states.”
Dr. Machar also accused president Salva Kiir of blocking “participation of SPLM/SPLA (IO) and other parties in the governments of the three Administrative Areas.”
Worried that the peace agreement might not be implemented by February 22, 2022, Dr. Machar proposed that the stakeholders should convene a forum to address the way forward to fast track the implementation of the peace agreement before its expires and also decide on plan B should the parties fail to implement the peace deal.
“In light of the Transitional Period ending 22nd February 2023, when most of the chapters in the Agreement have not been implemented, the way forward is for the parties, stakeholders and guarantors to the Agreement to fast track full implementation of the Agreement and in lieu of fast tracking the parties, stakeholders and guarantors must deliberate and decide on the future of the status of the Agreement,” Dr. Machar states in the communique.
