The leader of the SPLA-IO breakaway group in Yei River State, Brig. Gen.Hillary Yakani, arrived in Yei town to oversee implementation of the peace agreement signed between his faction and the state government.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Yakani said the two parties are committed to implementing the agreement and the security matrix that will ensure peace and stability in Yei.
“My coming to Yei is also to call on the forces on both sides to continue maintaining the ceasefire, allow free movement for the civilians along the roads and the SPLA-IO should ensure that there is no military confrontation on the roads within the state because the government is already maintaining the ceasefire and also on our side as SPLA-IO. We need to maintain the same,” Yakani said.
Yakani further said his forces have started assembling at Kendila has agreed upon in the agreement.
For his part, Yei River State Governor David Lokonga Moses reiterated his government’s commitment to implement the agreement. “We want to see what has been signed on the paper is practically implemented so that the people who are displaced can return home and enjoy the fruits of the peace agreement,” Lokonga said.
A resident of Yei town, who preferred anonymity, called for immediate end of civilian sufferings. “We have been hearing too much talking on peace agreement between Hillary Yakani and the state government. We are tired, what we want to see is immediate peace outcomes than too much talking,” she said.
“Let the roads be open for the ordinary citizens, we need to see that our family members who ran to the villages and neighbouring Uganda return to Yei without any harm on the roads,” she added.
In May this year, Bishop Elias Taban of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Sudan mediated a peace deal with an overall objective of ending conflict and restoring peace and stability in Yei River State.