A peace monitoring body has raised concerns over deepening divisions within South Sudan’s main opposition party, urging it to resolve internal disputes through party structures to ensure its active participation in implementing the 2018 peace agreement.
The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) called for urgent reconciliation within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar.
Last month, President Salva Kiir reshuffled a key committee overseeing the peace deal, appointing 31 members from various political factions. The new High-Level Ad Hoc Committee is chaired by senior presidential adviser Kuol Manyang Juuk of the ruling SPLM party, with SPLM-IO’s Lasuba Ludoru Wongo as deputy.
Notably absent were SPLM-IO members loyal to Machar, who remains under house arrest in Juba. Most appointees instead belong to a rival faction led by Stephen Par Kuol, the country’s peacebuilding minister.
Machar’s supporters accuse Par Kuol of orchestrating a coup against their leader and colluding with Kiir to undermine the peace process.
During a meeting Monday with the reconstituted committee, RJMEC interim chairperson Maj. Gen. George Aggrey Owinow (rtd) called for inclusive implementation of the 2018 peace deal and reaffirmed RJMEC’s commitment to continued engagement with all parties and stakeholders.
He urged the High-Level Ad Hoc Committee to expedite its review of the peace roadmap and prioritize pending tasks under the agreement to be completed within the remaining transitional period ahead of elections.
Owinow also stressed the need to preserve progress made over the past six years and voiced concern over key challenges facing the peace process, including lack of predictable funding, the fragile political and security environment, and widening divisions within the SPLM-IO.
South Sudan faces a tight timeline to implement the peace deal ahead of elections scheduled for December 2026.