South Sudan speaker urges lawmakers to implement peace deal

August 2, 2021 (JUBA) – The Revitlized Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) speaker, Jemma Nunu Kumba has urged lawmakers to commit themselves to implement the peace accord.

She was speaking as 504 members of the national legislature and 84 Council of States members took oath of office in Juba on Monday.

“As we implement peace, we, in the Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly are not expected to dwell on campaigning for our respective political gains. The time for that is not now,” said Kumba.

She added, “Time will come when elections are scheduled at the end of the transitional period. For now, we should all fully commit to the implementation of the peace agreement as a unity government”.

The reconstituted parliament has 550 MPs and 100 members of the Council of States.

Edmund Yakani, an activist, urged parliamentarians to rescue the peace agreement from its slow implementation, especially on matters within Chapter II on the transitional security arrangements.

“The parliamentarians have key role to play as primary actors for ensuring that the peace agreement is genuinely implemented for transitioning the country from violence to peace,” he said Tuesday.

Yakani appealed to the country’s lawmakers to focus on accelerating the implementation of the transitional security arrangements, citing the graduation of the necessary unified forces.

In September 2018, South Sudan’s warring factions signed a revitalised peace agreement to end the country’s civil war. The peace accord stipulates that there shall be a transitional government formed after eight months of the pre-transitional period.

According to the revitalized peace deal, South Sudan is supposed to train and graduate 83,000 personnel to take charge of security during the transitional period.

(ST)