S. Sudan information minister says warlords wishing peace to collapse

July 4, 2016 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese minister lashed out at institutions and people who have expressed fears of imminent collapse of the August 2015 peace agreement due to lack of consensus between two main warring parties.

The parties led by President Salva Kiir and his first deputy, Riek Machar, are yet to resolve disputes over key sticking points, raising concerns that the intransigence could lead to collapse of peace, if no immediate measures were taken to keep the agreement on track.

Earlier, the two leaders in their presidency meetings last month said they reached consensuses on a number of issues including establishment of cantonment areas and review of the number of states and boundaries across the country.

President Kiir however did not sign the resolutions of the outcome of the meetings, returning the parties to further consultations.

However, Information Minister and Government Spokesperson, Michael Makuei Lueth, told reporters on Monday that there were people wishing South Sudan to continue to be in crisis for their benefits.

“Those who write such report, who say peace is going to collapse, who don’t talk about the progress which have been so far in the implementation of the agreement, are those who wish the country every failure and they are people who are not for peace in South Sudan,” said Lueth.

The official, himself seen by the critics of the government as one of the hardliners and among those in the government who would like certain provisions of the agreement not to be implemented, said warlords in the country have perpetually remained in crisis for their own benefits.

“So these are warlords who would all the time like to see the whole country in crisis so that they benefit out of all these,” he said, without mentioning them by names.

Leading figures in the leadership of armed opposition, including the First Vice President Riek Machar himself, contended that implementation of the peace agreement was slow but ruled out its collapse. They asserted that it would be premature to make conclusion while the parties are still in discussions.

Minister Lueth was reacting to the report of the crisis group in which it urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to ensure that all parties renew their commitment to the agreement during a summit in Kigali, Rwanda, in coming days.

The report further asked the regional bloc, which mediated the talks, to bring to an end the conflict in the country to resume active engagements in the implementation process of the peace deal which the parties grudgingly signed in August 2015.

It called on IGAD to direct the parties to act on key issues in order to avoid collapse of the peace agreement.

(ST)