South Sudan's rival leaders reach agreement to end command structure stalemate

JUBA, South Sudan

South Sudan’s rival leaders reached an agreement Sunday on a key military provision of a peace deal, ending a stalemate over the command structure of a unified armed forces.

President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, agreed on the creation of a unified forces command.

The parties signed a roadmap to chart the way forward on the implementation of the security arrangements of the revitalized peace agreement.

The security arrangement has been a sticking point since the peace deal was signed in September 2018.

Meant to be implemented before the arrangement that brought together opposition forces and the government in a Transitional Government of National Unity, enactment of the provision, which comprises Chapter Two of the pact, continued to be elusive.

“Today we signed the agreement on the structure of the command in the unification of forces, and one week from now, all the forces who are in cantonment sites will begin the graduation of the first batch,” Tut Gatluak Manime, the presidential adviser on national security affairs, told reporters after the signing ceremony in the capital, Juba.

He said they have come out with one command of all the forces.

The agreement to move forward was reached in the presence of Sudanese officials, guarantors of the deal.

“This is to inform everyone that we have agreed today to unify the military command. We have agreed to divide the positions, because peace is precious. We have to agree so that we develop the country,” said Gatluak.

Mining Minister Martin Gama Abucha, who signed the deal on behalf of Vice President Machar’s party, the SPLM/A-IO, said: “Today we reach an understanding on how we shall implement Chapter Two of the peace agreement and the people of South Sudan are yearning for peace and security, and today we have made a milestone in that.”

“It is important to silence the guns so that South Sudan can prosper.

“The most important thing is not only the signing but the implementation of the articles. We must implement what we say. The people of South Sudan expect us to do that,” he underscored.

“Not everything is perfect, but we want to move the country forward. Let there be no fighting. Let there be no attacks. Let there be no confrontations in our country and we move the country forward.”

The deal sets out terms to integrate opposition commanders into the armed forces. The parties signed a matrix for the creation of a unified armed forces command within a week. They also agreed to graduate and deploy the unified forces in training camps within a period not exceeding two months.

Under the 2018 peace deal, South Sudan is supposed to graduate 83,000 unified forces drawn from the various parties to take charge of security during the ongoing transitional period.