Khartoum, Sudan
April 1, 2022—South Sudan’s Presidential Advisor on security affairs and Chairperson of the National Transitional Committee has announced that they will hold a meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, and later in Juba with all parties signatory to the 2018 peace agreement to discuss issues to do with the unification of forces as required by the peace deal.
Tut Gatluak Manime was addressing a press conference after meeting with the Vice President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo ” Hemmeti” in Sudanese capital, Khartoum on Monday.
Gatluak traveled to Khartoum last weekend to convey President Kiir’s response to the proposal by the President of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, regarding the unification of forces and its perquisites.
The senior presidential advisor said the government had already responded to the proposal and he has handed it over to the government in Sudan, a midwife of the ongoing Revitalized Agreement.
According to the official Sudan News Agency, SUNA, Hamdan Dagalo made a phone call to President Salva Kiir on Monday, during which they discussed the progress of implementing the peace agreement in both text and spirit.
SUNA reported that President Kiir assured Dagalo of his commitment to overcoming obstacles stalling the implementation of the crucial provisions of the agreement.
President Kiir issued a presidential decree last Friday in which he relinquished three positions of command in the military and two in the National Police Service to the SPLM/A (IO) and SSSOA, a move immediately challenged by the SPLM/A (IO) as unilateral and was viewed as violation the power sharing ratio between peace partners in the peace agreement.
Tensions have been escalating between the two main parties to the agreement and it was triggered by deployment of the forces on routes leading to Dr. Machar’s office and residence.