November 19th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – A high-level delegation of the African Union (AU) will visit South Sudan in February before the end of the pre-transitional period set last week by President Salva Kiir Mayardit and main armed opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the continental body said in a communique issued this afternoon.
Kiir and Machar agreed last week during a meeting in Entebbe to extend the pre-transitional period for 100 days postponing a unity government formation which would have been last week.
The parties signed a revitalized version of a 2015 peace agreement in September 2018 to end what is one of the bloodiest conflicts in the continent.
The agreement required the parties to form the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) in May but that action had to be delayed because pre-transitional tasks needed in place before the government formation were not implemented.
In a meeting conducted on November 14th, the AU said it has decided to take a field visit to South Sudan in February next year before the end of the pre-transitional period.
“[The AU] decides to undertake a field visit to South Sudan in February 2020 before the expiration of the 100 days extension of the pre-transitional period,” it said in the communique seen by Nyamilepedia.
The continental body also requested the “Chairperson of the [AU] Commission [Mussa Fakki] to brief Council on a monthly basis on the situation in South Sudan until the end of the 100 days extension of the pre-transitional period.”
