South Sudan troop buildup alarms peace-monitoring agency

A peace-monitoring group in South Sudan said it was concerned about a military buildup in Yei River State in Central Equatoria that it feared could derail the latest peace agreement.

The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) raised the issue in a Wednesday press release after receiving several credible reports of military deployment to Yei by both the government and rebels under the command of General Thomas Cirillo.

“In response to having received various reports of a military build-up in the area of Yei River State, the RJMEC urges restraint on all sides,” the lobby group said.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir last September signed a peace deal with former rebel chief Dr Riek Machar who spent a number of years in exile in South Africa. However, Cirillo, from the National Salvation Front, was one of the rebel leaders who refused to sign the deal, the East African reported.

Outlining its fears about the military buildup threatening the peace agreement, RJMEC said the progress made so far in terms of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of December 2017 and the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan of last September “is a worthy achievement and should not in any way be looked on lightly by any party”.

“South Sudan is presently at a critical phase of the implementation of the peace agreement, which since signing, has been characterised by a spirit of cooperation,” the group added.

It said the fact that the ceasefire had held to date was a great credit to all of the signatories and that silencing the guns was a matter of high national importance, urging all parties involved to support full implementation of the agreement.

– African News Agency

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