Opposition groups and the civil Society in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State have rejected the recent graduation of police, claiming it violated the 2018 Peace Agreement
The opposition parties, including the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, (SSOA), the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) and the civil society, said such violations would fuel the insecurity in the region.
On June 7, the government graduated over 1,400 police officers, the opposition groups claim were loyal to SSDPF.
Members of opposition were now demanding the deployment of police who were graduated under the Peace Agreement.
The Eastern Equatoria State SSOA Chairperson, Muras Albino Karmato, told Radio Tamazuj that they rejected any graduation of new forces.
Karmato said the continued violation of the Revitalized Agreement would hinder peace and the electoral processes, and called on the government to deploy the unified forces.
“According to the Revitalized Agreement, there should be no graduation of new police or any other organized forces, because the unified ones were not yet deployed. I am urging the National Government to prioritize the deployment of unified forces. We should implement the Agreement and as the opposition, we are saying that if the pending issues are not met, we shall not go for elections,” he explained.
The SPLAM-IO Youth League Chairperson, Visal Likale, said the party does not recognize the recently graduated police because they were partial.
He called on the region and the international agencies and the established mechanisms to intervene; saying the development would destabilize the security in the State.
“No any party is allowed to recruit out of the Agreement and what happened was actually a violation of Chapter Two because it is a partial police. If there is shortage of police in the state, let them request the National Level to train more.
“The regional, the international agencies and the other mechanisms should verify that issue because the police recruits will end up going to the cantonments, and that may cause insecurity in the country,” he stated.
The Eastern Equatoria State Civil Society Network Chairperson, Charles Onen Lokwaru, said the recent graduation of police was a contradiction of the 2018 peace provisions.
He, however, urged the parties to the agreement to discuss the pending issues to minimize tensions.
“Members of opposition reject the recent graduation of the police in Eastern Equatoria as a violation of the Agreement. The Peace Agreement is vital and needs to be respected as a guiding document for all the parties. We still urge the parties to find an amicable way of discussing this issue,” he said.
The police spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.