South Sudan activist demands ‘immediate’ action on AU peace resolutions

JUBA — A prominent South Sudanese civil society leader demanded on Tuesday the immediate implementation of an African Union peace resolution, speaking a day after the United States warned that the ongoing imprisonment of First Vice President Riek Machar compromises the country’s transition to elections.

Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), welcomed the government’s endorsement of the AU C-5 declarations.

He urged the African Union to develop an immediate action plan to execute the resolutions, which call for the enforcement of the 2018 peace deal and the release of political prisoners.

“This AUC5 resolutions should not die a natural death like other similar resolutions that failed to meet their intended purposes,” Yakani said in a statement to Sudans Post.

The civil society leader added that the public expects former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete to deliver on the AU’s aspirations without the “dragging of feet and intended delays” seen in past peace processes.

Yakani’s appeal follows a warning issued Monday by the U.S. Embassy in Juba. In a press release outlining Washington’s position on South Sudan’s upcoming elections, the embassy urged an immediate return to dialogue among the parties to the 2018 peace agreement to ensure a peaceful electoral process.

“Genuine dialogue cannot happen when key leaders are imprisoned, including when the head of the second largest party to the agreement is under arrest and on trial,” the U.S. Embassy statement read, referencing Machar’s detention.

Machar, who leads the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), signed the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement (R-ARCSS) to end a brutal five-year civil war with forces loyal to President Salva Kiir.

The agreement formed the basis of a fragile power-sharing transitional government. Machar’s recent imprisonment and trial have effectively paralyzed the political transition and heightened fears of a return to large-scale conflict.

The political crisis at the executive level unfolds against a backdrop of persistent violence across the country. Despite the 2018 national peace deal, South Sudan continues to be plagued by widespread inter-communal fighting, armed factional clashes, and localized insurgencies over resources and territory. This ongoing violence has displaced millions and severely hampered humanitarian access.

In its statement, the U.S. Embassy also pressured the transitional government to fund the upcoming elections, public services, and government salaries from its own revenues.

Washington stated that future international support for the elections will be based on whether Juba demonstrates it will fund the process itself, seeking “an end to assistance abuse.”

Meanwhile, Yakani announced that a CEPO-led civil society initiative will actively track the government’s and the AU’s compliance with the new resolutions to ensure they effectively transition the situation from “violence to peace.”