The United States said it would not hesitate to impose more sanctions on individuals obstructing the peace process in South Sudan.

“I don’t see us removing the sanctions we have done, and we will continue to use sanctions as one of the tools we have,” said Thomas Hushek, the US Ambassador to South Sudan.

Hushek told reporters in Juba on Wednesday that there is need to put in place a unity government that is inclusive.

“We hope it’s a government that has more technical capacity and more political will to actually start tackling these many reforms that are built into the peace agreement,” he observed.

Hushek said it’s important for the parties in South Sudan to implement the critical pending tasks within the remaining pre-transitional period. 

The United States on Monday placed sanctions on South Sudan’s cabinet affairs ministers, Martin Elia Lomuro and defense minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk for obstructing the country’s peace process.

These are the latest moves by Washington to put more pressure on South Sudanese political leaders to implement the 2018 peace deal.

Government and opposition leaders have extended the deadline to form a unity government twice, most recently on November 7, 2019, and have twice failed to make any progress towards a unity government or adequate implementation of the peace agreement.

On November 12, President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar were given 100 days to resolve outstanding issues and form a transitional government by February.