SSOMA faction to join ceasefire body in mid-August: CTSAMVM

File photo: CTSAMVM Chairman Gen. Asrat Denero

The ceasefire monitoring body of South Sudan’s peace agreement announced that a faction of the holdout opposition group is expected to join the mechanism in mid-August.

The Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) is mandated to monitor and verify the implementation of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities as per the 2018 peace deal.

Speaking at a meeting in Juba on Wednesday, CTSAMVM Chairman Lieutenant General Asrat Denero said the representatives of the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) faction led by Gen. Paul Malong and Pagan Amum are expected to join monitoring structures this month.

Gen. Denero pointed out that they held a 10-day training for members of the holdout opposition faction in Rome, Italy, from 20th -30th of June 2022.

"In the combined efforts to include SSOMA into our monitoring structures, CTSSAMVM conducted an induction workshop for the national monitors of South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) and the Real SPLM in Rome, Italy from 20th up to 30th of June 2022 and it was facilitated by the community of Sant'Egidio,” he said.

“The national monitors of the two parties under the umbrella of SSOMA will be joining CTSAMVM on 15 August 2022. In this regard, CTSAMVM has been in contact with the community of Sant'Egidio, asking them to engage the leadership of NAS [National Salvation Front] to re-join the Rome peace process," he added.

For his part, SSUF/A leader Gen. Paul Malong told Radio Tamazuj in a recent interview that their members would be part of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM).

“CTSAMVM was initially for those who signed the 2018 peace agreement, but we have been included in it so that our peace talks with the government can go ahead without hindrances,” he said.

In March 2021, representatives of the government and the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) faction led by Gen. Paul Malong and Pagan Amum recommitted to a “cessation of hostilities agreement” signed on December 21, 2017.