A multilateral delegation comprised of representatives from the African Union, IGAD, UN, and UNDP is in South Sudan to assess the state of preparedness for the elections stipulated in the revitalized peace agreement and scheduled for the end of the transitional period later this year.
The group also intends to assess the progress of the constitutional making process.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, an election consultant and former chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Ahmed Issack Hassan, described their mission as a very unique one in the sense that it brings together the AU, IGAD, and the UN, saying that they have been engaging the government and international partners to discuss the implementation of the peace agreement.
“We have been having a series of meetings to engage with the South Sudanese stakeholders and also the international partners basically to talk about how far we are in the implementation of the peace agreement and whether the country is ready for the end,” Hassan said.
He added: “We are coming for the end of the peace agreement. There are clear timelines and things to be done in that agreement so we are coming to access how far we are in terms of completing the peace agreement and we are going to give a report to the African Union Peace and Security Council.”
For his part, Babatunde Fagbayibo, one of the delegates and a professor of law in South Africa, said that they have been mandated by the African Union Security Council and added that the AU is trying to craft a common position on the stability of South Sudan.
“The AU is trying to craft a common African position. The stability of South Sudan is the task of the continent and the continent has to ensure that the country is stable,” Prof Fagbayibo said. “It (AU) needs the deadlines and some of the positions of the revitalized peace agreement and the importance of that is that if there is peace in South Sudan, then you have stability and economic transformation.”
He added that South Sudan is part of economic and regional groupings like the East African Community, AU, IGAD and requires stability to grow and that it is very important for the AU to take the lead as the voice of the African continent.