Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The First Vice President, Riek Machar, called on the holdout groups to bolster efforts for sustainable peace by joining the reconciliation steered by the government.
Machar, who was speaking during the opening of the three-day conference on the Transitional Justice Mechanism in Juba yesterday, said the government would welcome the groups with open arms.
“We would like them (hold out groups) to participate in this conference. I hope the next three conferences we [will] have their attendance,” Machar said.
He stated that most of the grievances and reform issues are addressed through conferences, and this would fit those with contrary ideologies like the holdout groups.
“We hope they will also participate in the economic conference, the governance conference, where we will talk about federalism and constitution making processes.”
He added, “All the issues of reform are contained in these four conferences, and anybody who has an issue to raise has to attend.”
Machar was optimistic that the upcoming Rome talks would yield fruit, with the hope of bringing back the holdout groups.
He revealed that the group and the government did not reach any agreement in the last month, which explains the absence of the SSOMA faction from the conference.
“These conferences are going to be the final consultation for those who are experts so that we can have legislation to effect the implementation of these chapters,” he said.
Machar said that although there is a delay in implementing the peace agreement, efforts have been made to ensure that peace prevails.
“We were supposed to tackle this chapter in the first three months after the transitional government was established. But because of many difficulties, it took a long time…”The technical committee was established in March 2022, and now, due to the extension of the 24 months, we are now embarking on it.”
The conference, which was graced by President Salva Kiir, brought all top national government officials, state governors, administrators of the three administrative areas, some county commissioners, women’s groups, civil society, victims of conflict, and representatives of people with disabilities, among others.
In January 2020, the non-dignitaries to the Revitalised Peace Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict signed the Rome Declaration on the peace process in the Republic of South Sudan. But till now, no success has been achieved to ensure that the group joins the RTGoNU in Juba.
The holdout groups, which were not part of the 2018 peace deal, include the National Salvation Front, the South Sudan United Front, and the Real SPLM, among others.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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