Vice President Abdelbagi and Dr. Garang visit Dr. Machar over security arrangement

Juba, South Sudan,

June 18,2021 – South Sudan’s Vice President for Service Cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol and Chairperson of South Sudan Patriotic Movement (SSPM), Dr. Castello Garang Ring Lual, paid Machar a courtesy call on Wednesday, June 16 2021, to revisit the stranded security arrangement.

According to the office of the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, the the three leaders discussed one of the impeding factors in the revitalized peace agreement – the security arrangement and its mechanisms. 

In the statement seen by Nyamilepedia editorial team, the meeting between the trios focused mainly on issues pertaining to the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), especially the security arrangements which is the center-piece of the peace agreement.

“They discussed the way forward and how they can tackle all challenges facing the implementation process.” Said the official in Machar’s office.

The First Vice President and his two guests, who are almost leading minor armed oppositions in Bhar el Ghazal region, discussed measures for accelerating the graduation of the Unified Organized Forces, something Machar and Kiir also looked into this week.

The security arrangements is chapter two of the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) that was signed in 2018 and was to last for three years, however, a lack of political-will, characterized by reluctance among the peace partners to the agreement, has exhausted efforts to implement the agreement in text and spirit.

Forces from various parties, which should constitute the national army in the country after training, have been languishing in cantonment sites without adequate basic services since 2019.

According to president Kiir, who drives the peace agreement, some forces have completed their training since last year but they cannot be graduated due to arms embargoes that was imposed on the government by the UN Security Councils and members of the international community.