December 26th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s parties who are currently in Juba for pre-transitional activities are considering the reduction of the number of states from thirty-one (31) to twenty-four (24) including the Abyei area of the Ngok Dinka, sources close to the committees in Juba have told the Nyamilepedia this afternoon.
The source which preferred not to be named said all the different sub-committees of the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC) are working and were not given a break for festive season holidays and the most popular issues dominating their current activities are the number of states and the cantonment of forces.
“The issue on the number of states, the cantonment of forces more than any other issue are dominating the meetings in Juba. That’s why the members of the committee are still in Juba and conducting meetings without them being given holidays for the Christmas and other festive holidays,” the source told the Nyamilepedia this afternoon from Juba.
He revealed that the parties are moving towards considering the reduction of the number of states to twenty-four in certain areas where there is a land conflict as result of the political division of South Sudan into 28 states in October 2015.
“They are considering that the states be reduced to 24 because now there are dispute between several states and counties. This was not there before the 2015 division of the country,” the source added.
South Sudan President in October 2015 decided to increase the number of states to 28 sparking condemnation from regional and international powers over what they said was a violation of a peace deal signed in August that year on the basis of ten states.
Following the signing of the revitalized peace deal in September in Addis Ababa, the parties have agreed that a commission to be called IBC and TBC be formed by the IGAD to decide on the number of South Sudan states during the transitional period.
The two committees has not been formed so far. Machar ins October urged the NPTC to form their own as they already submitted names to the IGAD who for its parts failed to form the committee which is supposed to be formed two weeks after the signing of the agreement.
