A South Sudanese civil society group is urging the principal signatories to the peace deal signed barely a week ago in Ethiopia to order their ground forces to cease hostilities in Yei River State in accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed on 27th of June 2018 in Khartoum.
The warring parties last week signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.
Edmund Yakani, Executive director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization or CEPO in a statement to Radio Tamazuj strongly condemned what he called the continued violation of the ceasefire agreement in Yei River State, casting doubts on the recently signed agreement.
“We are kindly urging the principals of the armed groups’ parties to the Revitalized Peace Agreement to issue immediate directives for renewing their ground forces pledge for observation of ceasefire. Take responsibility of resolving political difference in non-violent manner. Enough of the suffering from violence for the last five years. Silence the guns now,” Yakani urged.
The activist further called on the parties to renew directives to their ground forces to end the recent violations, saying, “The fresh signed Revitalized Peace Agreement is a final test for us before the regional and international community whether we are committed to make peace and stability prevails in our country.”
Yakani further said the trading of accusations by both government forces and SPLM-IO forces over the violations is “unaccepted and a demonstration of lack of responsibility for making peace prevail in the country.”
The civil society group called on CTSAMM, the body mandated to monitor compliance to the cessation of hostilities agreement to take immediate actions to verify the actual violators of the deal.