Cirillo, Pagan and Malong say South Sudan about to ‘collapse into anarchy’

JUBA – South Sudan holdout opposition leaders are saying that the world’s youngest country is on the verge of collapse into anarchy over failure of the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit to address the root causes of the conflict.

This comes after rumors that President Kiir has developed a roadmap for implementation of the remaining provisions of the revitalized peace agreement that will lead to the extension of the transitional period which is supposed to end in February 2023.

In a statement extended to Sudans Post, General Thomas Cirilo, the leader of the National Salvation Front (NA), Pagan Amum Okiech, leader of the Real SPLM, General Paul Malong Awan, leader of the South Sudan United Front (SSUF), Emmanuel Ajawin, leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM-PF), Thomas Tut Doap, leader of the UDRM, Alex Yatta Lukadi, leader of the SSNM, said the country is about to collapse.

“The Republic of South Sudan is on the verge of collapse into anarchy and constitutional vacuum resulting from failure of the regime to address the root causes of the conflict, mismanagement of the country and the total failure to implement the flawed Revitalized Peace Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R ARCSS) signed in September 2018,” they said in the statement.

“During the tenure of the Revitalized Government of National Unity (R-TGONU), the country has become ungovernable and at the brink of dis-integrating. South Sudan is awash with weapons and is now engulfed in unprecedented violence and lawlessness,” the holdout opposition leaders added in the statement.

The opposition leaders said President Kiir’s regime has obstructed the implementation process of the revitalized peace agreement and killing, looting and other atrocities which have been documented by international organizations have become a part of daily life of the people of South Sudan.

“The Kiir regime has obstructed the implementation of all peace agreements signed and disregarded all the people’s solutions to the country’s problems such as those expressed in the resolution of the National Dialogue organized by Kiir himself,” the opposition leaders said.

“The State capture by the Kiir’s hegemonic and kleptocratic clique is total. The looting of the resources of the nation, is best represented by the mortgaging of the country’s oil to 2027, the rampant criminal mining and stealing of gold and non-oil revenues and heavy indebtedness incurred through irresponsible and corrupt borrowing,” they added.

They said the revitalized transitional unity government “is now embroiled in a major scandal following the unraveling of secret deals for dredging of some of the tributaries of the Nile River and to resume the excavation of the Jonglei Canal.”