IGAD calls to activate Entebbe mechanism on South Sudan peace implementation
November 10, 2019 (JUBA) – The IGAD Council of Ministers Sunday called on the guarantors and the South Sudanese parties to operationalize the new Mechanism to agreed in Entebbe to control the implementation of the pending tasks.
A tripartite summit held in Entebbe on 7 November, including leaders of Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan and attended by SPLM-IO leader and Kenya’s special envoy agreed to extend the pre-transitional period for 100 days and to form a mechanism to supervise the implementation of the sticky issues.
in an extraordinary meeting held on Sunday to discuss the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, the IGAD Council of Ministers called on the guarantors and the parties to urgently operationalize the new Mechanism agreed in the Entebbe, and to prepare the Terms of Reference of the new Mechanism.
The Council further said that the new committee to should take “into consideration the mandate and work of existing Agreement mechanisms and institutions”.
“In this regard, the Council directed that the new Mechanism should work closely and coordinate with the NPTC, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, R-JMEC and CTSAMVM,” further said the Council in a statement released after the meeting.
The purpose of the new committee is to oversee the quick implementation of the costly and complicated process of the reunification of the South Sudanese army to avoid any delay and power struggle between the different organs and committees.
The statement underscored that the pending pre-transitional tasks particularly the Transitional Security Arrangements and the determination of the number and boundaries of states are crucial for the formation of the transitional government.
Accordingly, the extraordinary meeting called on the government in Juba to immediately disburse the balance of the USD 100 million to the National Pre Transitional Period Committee (NPTC) to enable the completion of the critical pending tasks.
In a speech delivered after his return from Entebbe, President Kiir admitted that he had not honoured his pledge to pay the remaining party of the $100 million to the NPTC for the implementation of the agreement.
Also, he said the SPLM-IO used this point to convince Ugandan and Sudanese leader to press him to accept the 100-day postponement, adding that he also accepted the delay to avoid a return to war in the country.
The IGAD Council of ministers tasked the Special Envoy to South Sudan to urgently organize a workshop for security mechanisms in Juba to agree on a roadmap with a clear timeline for the implementation of Transitional Security Arrangements within the one hundred (100) days extension.
The council further tasked him with the organization of a leadership retreat for the Leaders of the Parties to the R- ARCSS for trust and confidence-building as soon as possible.
The extraordinary meeting was chaired by Gedu Andargachew, Ethiopian Foreign Minister and attended by Awut Deng Acuil, South Sudan Foreign Minister, Asma Abdalla, Sudan Foreign Minister, Philimon Mateke, Ugandan State Minister of Foreign Affairs; Hirut Zemene, Ethiopia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Abdulkadir Ahmed-Khayr, Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ababu Namwamba, Kenyan Chief Administrative Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Mohamed Ali Hassan, Djibouti’s Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
(ST)