Regional
Peace deal: South Sudan takes key step in unifying armed forces
South Sudan's government
announced on Tuesday the creation of a unified armed forces command,
implementing a key provision of the 2018 peace deal that observers hope will
ease the country's recovery from years of war.
The world's newest nation
has struggled to draw a line under a five-year civil war between forces loyal
to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, that left
nearly 400,000 dead before the pair agreed to a truce in 2018.
Since then, frequent
explosions of violence have raised fears of a return to full-blown conflict, as
the two sides remained deadlocked over major issues including the unification
of their forces -- a key provision of the 2018 pact.
But earlier this month, the
duo sealed a deal on the division of top positions within the unified
structure, agreeing to a 60-40 distribution in favour of Kiir's side of
leadership posts in the army, police and national security forces.
Late Tuesday, the national
broadcaster SSBC read out a series of presidential decrees announcing Kiir's
decision to replace senior officials in the military, police and security
services with members of Machar's Sudan People's Liberation Movement in
Opposition.
The decrees "come into
force on the date (April 12, 2022) of its signature by the President," the
broadcaster said.
Under the terms of the deal
signed on April 3, the graduation of the unified forces should be completed
within two months.
Despite the agreement,
violence continues to roil the country, with fresh clashes on Friday between
pro-Kiir and pro-Machar forces prompting thousands to flee their homes in
oil-rich Unity state.
Since achieving its
independence from Sudan in 2011, the young nation has lurched from crisis
to crisis, battling flooding, hunger, interethnic violence and political
instability.
Last month, the UN Security
Council voted to prolong its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan another
year.
The UN has repeatedly criticised South Sudan's leadership for its role in stoking violence and has accused the government of rights violations amounting to war crimes over deadly attacks in the country's southwest last year.
Source: www.theeastafrican.co.ke