Kiir using revitalized peace deal to divide Machar’s party, says Pagan Amum

JUBA – The leader of the Real-SPLM and spokesman of the parties outside the revitalized peace agreement Pagan Amum Okiech has said that President Salva Kiir’s party, the SPLM, is using difficulties he said have been created by the 2018 peace deal to divide and weaken the SPLM-IO making it difficult for the implementation of the agreement.

Pagan told Sudans Post on Tuesday that South Sudan is on the verge of collapse and that the transitional period provided for in the agreement is ending in February without the agreement being implement, calling for a roundtable initiative for all stakeholders in South Sudan to discuss and promulgate a way forward to rescue the country.

“South Sudan is on verge of collapse once again into chaos and violence the R-TGONU’s mandate and legitimacy is ending by February 2023. The transitional period provided in R-ARCISS is ending with the peace agreement not implemented completely,” he said.

“The revitalized government of national unity is divided and dysfunctional incapable of implementing the agreement because the parties in the government are divided among themselves as partners they are not agreeing almost on every issue,” he added.

Pagan who was the SPLM Secretary-General until 2013 said President Kiir and his group have used conditions he said have been created by the revitalized peace agreement to divide and weaken the SPLM-IO, and said First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar is not allowed to move by the ruling party to visit his forces and his constituencies across the country.

“In fact the SPLM-IG and the click around president Kiir have been engaged in dismantling, destroying and dividing the SPLM-IO. President Kiir, Tutkew and the others around him have been waging war on the SPLM-IO forces in the cantonment camps, recruiting their officers and taking the advantages of the difficult situation that the SPLM-IO leadership finds itself in the conditions created by the revitalized peace agreement itself,” he said.

“These difficulties are being used to further divide the SPLM-IO and weaken the SPLM-IO. The leadership of the SPLM-IO particularly and specially Dr. Riek Machar is not free to move within the country to reach to his forces or to his constituency all over the country because the SPLM-IG has worked to cause impediments and blockages and prevent this freedom of movement of the leaders of all the opposition,” he added.

He also said the SPLM party has forced some parties such as South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and Other Political Parties (OPP) to submit to it and said it has diverted resources which should be mean for peace implementation into its coppers and that the political space has been limit in the country citing the prevention of opposition lawmakers from organizing a press conference on Monday.

“In actual fact, the SPLM-IG has already neutralized or won over most of SSOA parties and the Other Political Parties as well into their side. The SPLM-IG right from the beginning has diverted the resources of the country away from implementing the peace agreement and building peace in the country,” he said.

“The SPLM-IG security organs continue to limit the political space in the country. Imagine yesterday when some members of parliament wanted to conduct a press conference, the NSS agents prevented the press conference and dispersed the journalists. That is in the parliament where the MPs have immunity and have a duty, not just a right, but have a duty to talk on all the issues and address all the problems that the country is facing,” he added.