Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan opposition leader and chairman of the SPLM-IO holdout faction, Duer Tut Duer, has slammed last this month’s peace agreement between President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s representatives and opposition commander General Simon Gatwech Dual, saying the agreement is a surrender of a military group to a political party.
Gatwech two weeks ago signed an agreement known as “Agreement on the Status of Forces” with the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. The agreement provides for the integration of the SPLA-IO Kitgwang forces under the command of General Simon Gatwech Dual into the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF).
It also provides for a pardon of General Gatwech, General Johnson Olony, and their forces by President Salva Kiir Mayardit. President Salva Kiir then issued a presidential order on the state-own South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) issuing a general amnesty to the holdout opposition forces.
Speaking to Sudans Post in an exclusive interview on Monday, Duer said the agreement between Kiir and Gatwech is a surrender of Gatwech’s forces to the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party and should not be compared with the revitalized peace agreement that saw First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny restored to his position.
“The 2018 Agreement was a Revitalized Agreement on the resolution of the Conflict in the republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) it is a Peace Agreement, while 2022 Agreement is “on the Status of Forces “(that means Agreement on the fate of Kitgwang Forces within the SSPDF),” he said from the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
“The R-ARCSS was between the SPLM-IO and the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), while the Kitgwang Agreement is between the Kitgwang Group and the SPLM-IG (Not with the Government of South Sudan),” Duer who was the SPLM-IO governor of the defunct Sobat State, added.
He said the “R-ARCSS was negotiated from both sides by politicians with high political consciousness, intellectuals of a great caliber and highly educated South Sudanese with international recognition and well vast in the negotiations techniques. I have nothing much to say about the Agreement on the Status of Forces.”
“R-ARCSS was reached after many months of intensive negotiations, while Kitgwang Agreement reached in less than four days.
“R-ARCSS is an Agreement of Eight (8) Chapters, Four (4) Annexes and One Hundred and Twenty Two (122) pages, the Kitgwang group Agreement is an Agreement of two and half (2and 1/2) pages made up of Preamble, Demand for Amnesty, Permanent Ceasefire (the two Parties have never fought), period of implementation, establishment of coordination offices, Logistics and the delegation to Juba (two pages Agreement without a single chapter).
“The R-ARCSS was signed by : President Salva Kiir and Chairman of SPLM-IO Riek Machar as Principal Signatories and other signatories were Nine (9) leaders of Political Parties in South Sudan, Seventeen (17) Stakeholders, Six (6) IGAD head of States and Governments, Representative of African Union, Representative of United Nation, Two (2) Mediators and the Two (2) Guarantors, signed the R-ARCSS. The Kitgwang Agreement is signed by one signatory on the side of SPLM-IG and by three on the Kitgwang side. The Signatory on the side of SPLM-IG is neither the Chairman, nor the Deputy Chairman nor the Secretary General in fact he doesn’t hold any office in the Party.
“The R-ARCSS was initiated by IGAD, African Union, United Nation and the International Community, while the Agreement on the Status of Forces was a demand from Kitgwang and then accorded by the SPLM-IG.
“The R-ARCSS was a Peace Agreement between Warring Parties the Government of South Sudan and the SPLM-IO. The Agreement on the Status of Forces of Kitgwang is a surrendering Agreement of Military Forces to a Political Party called SPLM-IG (what a political party going to do with these forces besides using them for the interest of the party).
“The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan would have been a dignified Agreement if not because Riek Machar and the Position Seekers rushed to Juba before the accomplishment of the Pre-transitional tasks, the Agreement on the Status of Forces of Kitgwang is undignified and cannot be compared with the R- ARCSS.
“The IGAD refused to recognize the 2022 Agreement; Sudan denied any role beside provision of venue for the meeting. The Head of SPLM-IG delegation was on the high table chairing the meeting while the head of Kitgwang delegation was seated as an ordinary member.”
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