President Salva Kiir Mayardit, South Sudan’s supreme leader since 2011. |File Photo|.
Representatives of the Troika (US, UK, Norway) met in Oslo, Norway to reaffirm their profound disappointment with the decision of the Government of South Sudan to extend its transitional status.
South Sudan’s leaders, who came to power as a result of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, for the second time, extended their rule for a further two years, denying the citizens to exercise their democratic right to elect their representatives in free, credible, inclusive, and transparent elections.
South Sudan has never conducted an election since it split from Sudan in 2011 through a transparent and inclusive plebiscite. President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, in 2013 staged a dogfight that claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of others to the neighboring countries. According to The Sentry Report, South Sudan’s political leaders make a fortune off the conflict.
The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan believes the further two-year extension of South Sudan’s transitional government is in large measure due to the failure of the country’s transitional political leaders to conscientiously implement the revitalized peace agreement, whose key provisions have the potential to consolidate peace, uphold human rights protections, and transform the country.
The latest Troika meeting in Oslo, on 30 October, also received briefings from the Tumaini Secretariat and UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan), which helped to inform the discussions, with further participation from the European Union in deliberations.
Troika partners agreed that a credible timetable of election preparations should be published by the government as a priority, and called on the government to commence voter registration as an essential first step.
The Troika member countries further committed to collaborate on engagement with International Financial Institutions, to make it clear that the government must urgently undertake to manage public finances responsibly, and transparently and to ensure accountability for the funding of essential services and other institutions.
“Impunity for human rights violations must end, and we will continue to call for the removal of the recent amendments to the NSS Act, which authorize warrant-free detentions and arrests, and other measures which restrict civil and political space,” Troika said in a statement extended to The Golden Times.
It furthermore, reaffirmed support to Kenya to sustain the Tumaini Initiative and urged South Sudanese leaders, both signatories and non-signatories, to take full advantage of these talks in the interests of creating a sustainable peace.
“The leaders of South Sudan have demonstrated a lack of political will and have instead conserved power in the hands of a small elite. The international community must be clear that we will not support a status quo that promotes the privileges of a few over the welfare of the people of South Sudan,” it added.
The Troika agreed that the forthcoming extension period is absolutely essential for the transitional government to demonstrate to the international community and the people of South Sudan its commitment to implement the peace agreement.
Troika representatives further agreed that South Sudan’s leaders’ actions in the weeks ahead will demonstrate whether they have the political will to meet their long overdue commitments within the current extension period. The Troika will remain focused on developments in South Sudan at this critical time.
“It is incumbent upon the leadership that they take seriously the agreements they have signed, with the understanding that ‘business as usual’ cannot continue. Troika partners will continue to stand with the people of South Sudan in their journey towards democracy,” it concluded.
