Transitional unity government needs to heed to the speeches of UNMISS, RJMEC chiefs

The Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), gave compelling speeches at the ongoing Governor’s Forum.

They gave a brutal fair assessment on the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, noting progress and failures as we approach the end of the current transitional period.

The hits and misses were outlined and they appear the same things the parties have been grappling with in the past.

For example, the full unification of forces and their deployment remains lagging including the enactment of the permanent constitution and also preparation for elections.

These are critical issues besides Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and also transitional justice and accountability.

The collapse of the peace deal in July 2016, was largely because of failure by the parties to honestly agree on the implementation of the security arrangements. The same thing is happening currently as majority of the forces who graduated in the first phase in August 2022, remain not deployed.

The government has so far only deployed 7,000 forces out of 55,000 graduates. This demonstrates lack of political will to complete this essential task that is critical for the survival of South Sudan.