This archive report was first published on 10 November 2019.
On November 10, 2019, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan defended his decision to accept a 100-day extension of the pre-transitional period, citing the need to avoid a return to war.
According to President Kiir, he accepted the extension to prevent the SPLM/A-IO from having a reason to return the country to war again. He stated that the government had not honoured its pledge to pay the remaining part of the $100 million to the National Pre-Transitional Committee for the implementation of the agreement.
However, the deputy co-chair of the National Pre-Transition Committee (NPTC), Gabriel Changson, disputed this claim, stating that the government had recently paid $40 million out of the $100 million it pledged last year.
The parties to the peace deal had been struggling to agree on the implementation of security arrangements, including the unification of forces, cantonment, and settling of issues regarding the number and boundaries of states.
At the Entebbe meeting called by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and Sudan's head of Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar agreed to a second extension of the pre-interim period to allow for the full implementation of the security arrangements.
The new pre-transitional period will start on November 12 and end on February 22, 2020.
Political analysts from the Sudd Institute and peace campaign groups had warned that Dr Machar's faction was likely to use violence if President Kiir excluded him from the unity government.
President Kiir has also been accused of lacking political will to release funds for the implementation of key provisions, including training and unification of the necessary force.
Earlier, the secretary general of the South Sudan Council of Churches had called on political leaders to reflect on the pledges they made after the Rome spiritual retreat in Vatican early this year.
At the retreat, Pope Francis expressed his wish to ascertain the conditions for a possible visit to South Sudan as a sign of closeness to the population and of encouragement for the peace process.
However, the actions of the leaders after the Rome visit did not meet the citizens' expectations, according to Jame Kolok, the executive director of the Foundation for Development and Accountable Governance.
