October 19th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – A new South Sudan youth group based in the Egyptian capital Cairo says the country may repeat the experience of 2016.
In July 2016, a 2015 peace agreement collapsed after President Salva Kiir’s guards and those loyal to then First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar fought at the presidential palace in Juba.
The fighting then let to the collapse of the peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa and Juba in 2015.
In a statement issued last week, the Cairo-based South Sudan Youth for Change (SSYC) said they fear the country may return to violence if the parties – especially the government – are not doing their best in addressing the pending issues.
“We have been following the implementation of the peace agreement signed in September 2018, but through actions and statements from all the signatories to the agreement, it has appeared that the government is not willing to do its part,” the statement extended to Nyamilepedia partly read.
The statement said the government wants to “put the cart before the horse” because it was not providing the funds it pledged for peace implementation “especially on the cantonment and training of the joint forces.”
The government – according to the statement – has not submitted the “agreement before parliament for ratification and is delaying to implement recommendations of the IBC [Independent Boundaries Commission] regarding the boundaries of the states.”
“It therefore sends a warning to all peace lovers in the international and regional community and the guarantors of the agreement that there is a possibility to repeat the events of 2013 and 2016.
“We therefore affirm our total rejection of any formation of the transitional government without the implementation of the basic issues, such as implementation of the security arrangements, determination of the number and boundaries of states, submission of the agreement to the parliament for ratification.
“We also condemn the president’s call to form a government without some signatories.
“Therefore, we call on all the signatories of the agreement, especially the government, to uphold the supreme interest of the country and the citizen above their narrow interests.”
