December 13th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan government on Friday accused the United States of America of having no interest in seeing peace return to the world’s youngest nation.
The US said in a statement on Thursday that it was imposing visa restrictions on peace spoilers weeks after recalling its ambassador to Juba over failure of the government and opposition groups to form a unity government after several deadlines for that action passed.
The United States said it was re-evaluating ties with the government of President Salva Kiir who is seen by many as being intransigent against implementation of key provisions of the peace agreement it signed with opposition groups last year.
Speaking to reporters in Juba on Friday, information minister and government spokesman, Michael Makuei Lueth, said the United States do not want to see peace return to the world’s youngest nation.
“The position of the American government is very clear, they are not for peace in South Sudan. Whenever they see progress happening in South Sudan they tend to dilute it,” Makuei said.
“If they want peace in South Sudan, there is no reason for them every time when we are making progress they come up with something to dilute whatever progress is being made,” Makuei added.
The outspoken senior government official said they are not interested in travelling to the US after he was asked if the latest US measure will affect them.
The government and several opposition groups signed a revitalized version of a 2015 peace agreement last year to end the ongoing civil war which began six years ago.
The agreement provided for the formation of a unity government which would govern the country for a duration of 36-month with the incumbent Kiir leading as the president deputized by his former deputy, Machar as the first vice-president.
That action have however witnessed setbacks as parties are reluctant to implement key provisions such as the formation of a unified army, police and national security service as well as finding a settlement for the number and boundaries of states.
Last month, Kiir and Machar met in Entebbe and decided to extend the pre-transitional period for 100 days within which the pending issues are expected to be resolved.
