CEPO gives thumbs up to planned meeting between Kiir and Machar
A civil society body has welcomed the planned meeting between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President, Riek Machar, to break the deadlock over the command structure’s unification.
South Sudan’s Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs and Chairperson of the National Transitional Committee, Tut Gatluak, announced on Thursday that a meeting with all parties’ signatories to the 2018 peace agreement would be held in Khartoum, Sudan.
Tut said the parties will then later meet in Juba, where they will be expected to discuss issues related to the unification of forces as required by the agreement.
He was addressing a press conference after meeting with the Vice President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemmeti in Khartoum on Monday.
He said the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan agreed to mediate talks between South Sudanese Kiir and Machar in Khartoum, to break the deadlock over the command structure unification.
In response to this, the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization applauded Sudan’s positive response as IGAD’s guarantor and current chair.
Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of CEPO, said the guarantor’s response to any issue raised over the execution of the Revitalised Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan must be prompt and effective (R-ARCSS).
According to Mr. Yakani, the President and First Vice President must establish an agreement on a true transitional security arrangement implementation plan.
He said the failure to complete tasks under Chapter 2 of the R-ARCSS is jeopardising the country’s political transition from violence to peace.
“Article 1.5.1, when read in conjunction with article 1.9.6.1, assigns the main responsibility for achieving peace in South Sudan to the members of the presidency.
The execution of the R-ARCSS is being hampered by a lack of trust and confidence at the presidential level,” the CEPO’s statement read.
Sudan’s leadership should press the president and first vice president to establish an understanding on the following tasks: Military defections must be sanctioned and hostilities must end immediately.
Before the graduation of the unified forces, the command structure must be unified.
The first branch of the unified troops to complete training has graduated.
Regular facilitation of the presidency meeting as a platform for continuing the presidency’s conversation on R-ARCSS implementation.
“It is for the best interest of the country for the president and first vice president to reach consensus on the transitional security arrangements implementation,” Mr. Yakani stressed.
CEPO urged Khartoum to remain proactive in ensuring that South Sudanese parties carry out their primary obligation for implementing the R-ARCSS, as stated in article 1.1.1 of the R-ARCSS.
Last week, Gatluak headed a government delegation to Khartoum 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.
