Kiir left the country for New York on Sunday afternoon to attend the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. This is his first visit to the United Nations and the United States since 2014.
In a statement to Sudans Post, Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), called on the UN to pressure Kiir during his visit to set clear prerequisites for the elections scheduled for December 2024.
“CEPO is urging the leadership of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly to take advantage of the president’s presence during the general assembly sessions to reach consensus on the preconditions for the conduct of the national general elections proposed for December 2024 and also renewal of political pledge for genuine implementation of the R-ARCSS pending tasks,” Yakani said.
“The issue of deficit in trust and confidence among the presidency is the greater challenge for timely and genuine implementation of the pending tasks of the R-ARCSS,” he added.
The activist said that “the presence of the president in the United Nations Security Council general assembly is a greater opportunity to demand demonstration of primary political responsibility for securing peaceful and stability in South Sudan.”
He stressed that Kiir “holds the primary political responsibility of generating decisions for securing successful political transition from violence to peace through R-ARCSS.”
Among others, Yakani said that the UN should push the president on the redeployment of the first graduated unified forces and roll out of the phase two training, graduation, and redeployment of the unified forces. The activist also called for reconstitution of the Political Parties’ Council, National Elections Commission, and the National Constitutional Review Commission.
He also called for speedy enactment of the transitional justice legislations, the establishment of the hybrid court for South Sudan, public finance management reforms, and transparency in the oil revenue usage.
The prominent activist further called for opening of the civic and political space for the conduct of the expected national elections for December 2024, unrestrictive humanitarian access, and protection of humanitarian property and staff.