• The Council of Ministers also urged all forces of the incumbent Transitional Government of National Unity and the opposition to be cantoned in barracks and cantonment sites
• On Thursday, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar met in Uganda and agreed to postpone the formation of a unity government for another 100 days.
Image: COURTESY
The Igad Council of Ministers has ordered all South Sudanese military forces to immediately vacate civilian centres and populated areas.
In a communiqué of the 69th Extra-ordinary Session on the situation in South Sudan on Sunday, the ministers said they have noted with concern that some civilian centres still remain occupied by Sudan People's Liberation Army civil centres and SPLM/A-IIO (In Opposition) forces.
The Council of Ministers also urged all forces of the incumbent Transitional Government of National Unity and the opposition to be cantoned in barracks and cantonment sites respectively pursuant to the provisions of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.
The ministers also said they have noted that critical pending pre-transitional tasks crucial for the formation of the R-TGoNU, particularly relating to transitional security arrangements and the determination of the number and boundaries of states, are still outstanding.
“The Council emphasised the need to work on a roadmap and implementation plan to ensure the timely completion of pending pre-transitional tasks,” the communiqué read in part.
In this regard, the ministers instructed Igad Special Envoy for South Sudan Ismail Wais in collaboration with Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) and the African Union Commission to urgently organise a workshop for security mechanisms in Juba to agree on a roadmap with clear timeline for the implementation of Transitional Security Arrangements within 100 days extension.
The Foreign ministers who attended the meeting were Awut Deng Acuil (South Sudan), Asma Abdalla (Sudan) Dr. Philimon Mateke (Uganda), Hirut Zemene (State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ethiopia) Ababu Namwamba, (Foreign Affairs CAS representing Kenya’s Monica Juma), Abdulkadir Ahmed-Khayr (Somalia) and Mohamed Ali Hassan (Djibouti).
The meeting chaired by Ethiopia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew sought to deliberate on the status of the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and the way forward.
Others who attended were outgoing Igad executive secretary Mahboub Maalim, Wais, African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui, Sudan Special Envoy to South Sudan Jamal El-Sheikh, Senior Adviser to President Yoweri Museveni on South Sudan Betty Bigombe, RJMEC interim chairman Augostino Njoroge, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS David Shearer, UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, ; and representatives of the African Union High Level Ad Hoc Committee for South Sudan (South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Rwanda and Chad).
On Thursday, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar met in Uganda and agreed to postpone the formation of a unity government for another 100 days.
This is the third such delay in the peace process.
The meeting chaired by Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, attended by Kenya Special Peace Envoy Kalonzo Musyoka and Igad leadership noted that critical tasks related to security arrangements and governance have not been completed.
“The meeting agreed to extend the pre-transitional period for 100 days effective from the 12th of November 2019 and to review progress after 50 days from that date. And a report is submitted to the heads of state and parties," Uganda’s Foreign minister Sam Kutesa said.