This archive report was first published on 26 July 2021.
July 26, 2021 - In a significant development, opposition groups in South Sudan have agreed to join the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, paving the way for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict.
The groups, led by former Chief of General Staff Gen Paul Malong and former SPLM Secretary-General Pagan Amum, have agreed to provide details of their areas of operation, personnel contact persons, and continuous communication with the Ceasefire Mechanism within two weeks from July 18.
The agreement, facilitated by the Community of Sant' Egidio, comes after months of negotiations that were slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Community of Sant' Egidio, based in Rome, initiated talks in 2020 to incorporate the holdout groups into the September 2018 peace agreement.
According to Pagan Amum, significant progress has been made in Rome since his Real SPLM and Gen Malong's South Sudan United Front (SSUF) signed a memorandum of understanding to respect the cessation of hostilities and agreed on the agenda for future talks.
However, the agreement excludes the larger group, the National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Gen Thomas Cirillo, who had expelled Gen Malong and Mr Amum from the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) for holding separate talks with President Salva Kiir.
Gen Cirillo told The EastAfrican that the remaining SSOMA will not be subjected to the Ceasefire Mechanism for the time being but will join it as equals once they accept to be part of it after recommitting to the 2017 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
“First, we must reach an agreement on principle before recommitting to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which has unfortunately been violated several times by Juba,” said Gen Cirillo.
