IGAD says president Salva Kiir violates peace agreement

October 13, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has issued a strong worded statement calling on president Salva Kiir to suspend his order creating 28 new states and follow the mechanisms provided in the peace agreement he signed with the armed opposition leader, Riek Machar, in August.

President Kiir on 2 October issued an order to create 28 states contrary to the peace deal which is based on the current 10 states in the country and deferred the proposal to be worked out under the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU).

IGAD, in its first response on the matter said the order has violated the peace agreement, questioning the motive of the government despite the fact that it rejected such a proposal during the peace negotiations.

“In violation of the Agreement, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan issued Establishment Order 36/2015 on October 2, 2015 redrawing the State boundaries of the Republic that expanded the number of states from 10 to 28,” partly reads the 7-page statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

The statement said the move came as a surprise, recalling that the government had been refusing creation of more federal states in the negotiations, explaining it was the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) that had been championing creation of states in restructuring the State.

“The special envoys, and all those who participated in the mediation process recall, throughout the negotiations, it was rather the SPLM/A-IO that included the expansion of the states from 10 to 21 as a condition for the establishment of the TGONU and subsequently demanding for changing the nomenclature of the Transitional Government and all its institutions accordingly,” the statement recalled.

It said the government should wait until the time when the constitution making process will take place under the supervision of the would-be formed government of national unity.

South Sudanese opposition parties alliance, former detainees, civil society organizations and the international community at large condemned the unilateral decision by the government to create 28 states and called on the parties to tackle this in the constitution making process.

IGAD said its leaders were consulting with the understanding to call for a summit of the IGAD heads of state and government to consult on the unilateral decision of president Kiir’s order, adding the next course of action will be discussed.

The statement further called on the SPLM-IO to sign the minutes of the security arrangements at the workshop in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, saying the document was a process in the implementation of the security deal.

(ST)