South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
Governor of Central Equatoria State, Emmanuel Adil Anthony [Photo: GPU]
By Awan Achiek
The Governor of Central Equatoria State Emmanuel Adil Anthony on Monday called on holdout opposition groups to renounce rebellion and negotiate with the transitional government.
He made these remarks during a press conference held in Juba to usher in the New Year.
Adil called on opposition parties under the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA) that include the National Salvation Front (NAS), South Sudan United Front (SSUF) and Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (R-SPLM) to finally return to the negotiating table with the government in Rome to end armed opposition activities.
The transitional government led by President Salva Kiir has since December 2019 been holding peace talks with groups under SSOMA in Rome, Italy but no concrete political settlement has been reached between the two sides.
Adil assured of his government’s commitment to building a cohesive and progressive state through a participatory process of dialogue and reconciliation.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit has repeatedly invited the leaders of the hold-out group to return to Juba to join the 2018 revitalized peace deal but none of them has heeded the call.
The last dialogue between the government and SSOMA ended in a deadlock after the parties disagreed over the agenda of the meeting in Rome.
The groups under SSOMA include SSUF led by Gen. Paul Malong, NAS under Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka and Real-SPLM led by former SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum.
SSOMA is a coalition of opposition groups that did not sign the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
However, NAS opposed the signing of the 2018 peace deal on grounds that it should be renegotiated to address local grievances in the Greater Equatoria region which has for long been demanding a federal system of governance.
