Communication Office

PRESS RELEASE

(For Immediate Publication)

Thursday, 16 November 2023, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

RJMEC ADDRESSES AFRICAN UNION PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL: CALLS FOR A DELIBERATE FOCUS ON SOUTH SUDAN AND SUPPORT FOR INSTITUTIONS NECESSARY FOR ELECTIONS

Today, 16 November 2023, the Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), Amb. Maj Gen (rtd) Charles Tai Gituai, addressed the African Union Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Amb. Gituai informed the Council: “South Sudan is scheduled to hold its first democratic elections in December 2024 since attaining independence in 2011. This promise comes with a lot of expectations and anxiety.”

He continued: “Two critical pre-conditions are still pending. Firstly, the Revitalised Agreement provides for elections to be conducted under a people-led and people-owned Permanent Constitution, which shall initiate a federal and democratic system of government at the end of the Transitional Period. Secondly, the unification of the forces should have been completed and the forces redeployed to provide elections-related security, among others. The unification of forces faces serious challenges, and yet, it is the most consequential for stability and enduring peace.”

The RJMEC Chairperson further noted the recent reconstitution of the Political Parties Council (PPC), the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) and the National Elections Commission (NEC), stating: “These institutions will require significant resources and capacity to deliver on their mandates.  In that regard, their effectiveness will pave the way towards registering, overseeing, and regulating activities of political parties, widening of civic and political space, the making of the permanent constitution and for the conduct of elections as scheduled”.

The RJMEC Chairperson added: “without predictable and adequate funding towards the implementation of the Agreement, including the Necessary Unified Forces and the recently reconstituted institutions, we express the concern that South Sudan might have a challenge in meeting the implementation schedule of the R-ARCSS, and this could seriously jeopardise the holding of elections in December 2024.”

In that regard, Amb. Gituai requested the Council to “appeal to the AU members and the AU C5, as guarantors of the Revitalised Peace Agreement, to enhance their political engagements with the Parties and the RTGoNU, to prevail and encourage them to complete implementation of the critical pending tasks, especially the unification of forces and the making of the permanent constitution so that South Sudan can have a smooth transition to a democratic dispensation”.

Furthermore, he underscored the critical role the Council and other international partners can play, adding “there is an urgent need for this Council, IGAD and the international partners to deliberately focus their attention and proactively play their roles to ensure South Sudan successfully transits to a democratic dispensation.”

The RJMEC Chairperson concluded by appealing to the Council to continue standing firm in solidarity with the people of South Sudan.

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