R-JMEC chief, Machar ‘extensively’ discuss impediments to security arrangements

JUBA – The head of South Sudan’s Reconstituted Joint Mechanism and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) Charles Tai Gittuai and the country’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny have discussed the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement with extensive sight on the security arrangements.

The signatories to the revitalized peace agreement, notably the SPLM-IO under Machar, and the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party under President Salva Kiir, are on a logger head over the implementation process of the 2018 peace deal as Kiir has on several occasions complained of lack of fund for the process.

Kiir has said he will also organize the general elections provided for in the revitalized peace agreement without census which is crucial in determining the number of the people who will vote in the elections. Machar, as well as other prominent opposition leaders, has stated that he won’t accept the country going for elections without the security arrangements being implemented.

In a statement this evening, Machar’s office said Gittuai paid a visit to Machar to discuss the several impediments to the implementation of the peace process and extensively discuss the security arrangements which provides for the reunification of the rival forces who broke apart following the outbreak of violence in 2013.

“H.E. Dr Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan met in his office with the Interim Chairperson of Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), Gen. (RTD) Charles Tai Gituai to discuss progress and challenges facing the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS),” Machar’s office said.

Speaking to the media following the meeting with Machar, Gittuai said he “extensively discussed challenges hindering the progress in the implementation of chapter two of the R-ARCSS which stipulates the need for training and graduation of unified forces.”

According to the statement, Gittuai also said he had discussed with Machar the humanitarian situation and plight of the flood affected populations in the country and urged the parties to the agreement “to urgently implement chapter five of the agreement to ensure justice is served to the victims of the war.”

Gituai further added that “the transitional period is entering its last year and calls on the parties to implement expeditiously the remaining chapters of the R-ARCSS to allow the country hold its first ever elections free and fair in a peaceful & conducive environment.”