The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) said it met with the leadership of South Sudanese Opposition Alliance (SSOA) to discuss their membership and composition of the Joint Defence Board (JDB) on Thursday.
The meeting was also attended by officials from the Office of the IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan. The meeting followed a disagreement within the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC) on the correct interpretation of Article 2.4.2 of the revitalized peace deal on nominations to the JDB.
JMEC said in a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj that the SSOA leader Gabriel Changson Chang and his fellow-members of the Alliance reached a common understanding during discussions led by JMEC Interim Chairperson, Augostino Njoroge.
The Chairperson Lt. Gen. Njoroge said: “It was encouraging to see the spirit of openness and cooperation we had at this meeting. SSOA showed their unwavering support for the agreement, and were prepared to be flexible to abide by our impartial interpretation of provisions of the revitalized agreement.”
The peace monitoring body pointed out that the SSOA’s membership nominees to the JDB will be duly submitted to JMEC without delay after all outstanding issues surrounding the matter had been cleared up.
“The matter of security is essential in the ongoing implementation of the revitalized agreement, and today was a measure of how seriously SSOA takes it. For the part of JMEC, we are pleased to continue in our role of facilitating wherever we can, to ensure implementation continues without undue delay,” Lt. Gen. Njoroge added.