Peace in South Sudan can collapse – diplomats

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:00 pm

The latest peace deal between South Sudan’s warring factions could collapse unless the main parties to the agreement fully implement it, several unnamed Western diplomats say.

The warning came barely two weeks after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and the main opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar announced the formation of a transitional government of national unity.

The United States-based Foreign Policymagazine published a news article, attributing most of its contents to unnamed diplomates. The article also quoted some experts who also worry that lasting peace can only be realized in the war-torn young nation if the deal is executed as stipulated in the September 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

“Nothing really has changed,” one unnamed European diplomat was quoted by the Foreign Policy as saying.

Questions have been raised after South Sudan’s rival leaders agreed to form a government without implementing security arrangements as States in the peace text.

The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) understands that the main peace principles Kiir and Machar have agreed on the allocation of national ministers, deputy ministers, and state governors. One senior SPLM-IO official who has full knowledge of the matter and who participated in the talks told the SSNA today that the announcement of those who have been appointed could come on any day.