-         Honourable Ministers, 

-         Excellencies,

-         Ladies and Gentlemen,

-         Good morning!

1.    I welcome you all to the 4th Extraordinary Plenary meeting of the RJMEC. I assumed this office as the Interim Chairperson on the 1st March 2025 amid unfolding events which prevented us from convening monthly plenaries due to a number of unfortunate developments.

2.    As you may recall, our planned end of March meeting was cancelled at the last minute on advice from government due to security concerns. Proposed meetings in April, May and June were also postponed due to concerns raised by a number of RJMEC members on their timing due to various reasons. In June and July, the Interim Chairperson was requested by the regional leaders for a series of briefing sessions on the situation in the Republic of South Sudan and also to receive some strategic guidance. 

3.    Despite not being able to meet, the RJMEC has continued to prepare and disseminate detailed quarterly reports, i.e., 1st quarter report January – March 2025, 2nd quarter report April-June 2025, and the 3rd quarter report July to September 2025 will be ready in due course. Above all these, I have since held several rounds of consultative meetings with you, bilaterally and in separate groups on varied issues related to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) with the intent of upholding its fidelity.  

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

4.    The main objectives of convening this Extraordinary Plenary today, are therefore, as follows: 

a.    to provide an update to the RJMEC members on the status of the implementation of the R-ARCSS, and the impact of the recent developments on the peace process;

b.    to provide a platform to the RJMEC members, as peace monitors, to deliberate on the current status of the Agreement implementation; and 

c.     to recommend appropriate remedial measures to the RTGoNU,  the Parties to the R-ARCSS, and to the regional guarantors with a view to restoring the full and inclusive implementation of the R-ARCSS.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

5.    On the implementation of the R-ARCSS, this has been largely affected. What started as a series of political and security tensions culminated into fatal clashes, including the 7th March incident in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, that claimed the life of a senior SSPDF General and an UNMISS helicopter crew member, among other fatalities. This was followed several arrests, detentions and subsequently arraignment in court of senior SPLM/A-IO leadership, a minister, an RJMEC member, senior military leaders and politicians, among them H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, First Vice President. The Special Court is currently in session on the matter. The rippling effect of this incident affected some implementation mechanisms, whose personnel either left or are not participating effectively. A case in point is the CTSAMVM, where SPLA-IO representation at the headquarters has been problematic and the Monitoring and Verification Team in Malakal has been dysfunctional. 

As this situation prevailed, RJMEC intensified its diplomatic engagements, particularly nationally and within the region. RJMEC urged the regional and international guarantors to urgently apply their diplomatic influence to resolve the political and security deadlock between the SPLM/A-IO and ITGoNU. RJMEC called for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue, release of detainees and return to focus on the implementation of the R-ARCSS. This call was widely supported by national, regional and international peace actors. 

6.    On the humanitarian front, the situation resulted in the destruction of healthcare and supply chain infrastructure, to the effect that insecurity and the weather especially flooding affected citizens in many counties.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

7.    All the aforementioned has had a negative effect and undermined trust and confidence in the peace process. It has also called into serious question the commitment of the Parties to the R-ARCSS in letter and spirit. It has equally thrown a spotlight on the role of the national, regional and international guarantors and peace partners. There is no doubt therefore that the R-ARCSS is facing its greatest challenge since its signing. If the current challenges are not urgently addressed, there is a high risk of reversal of the gains already made and may lead to a collapse of the Agreement altogether.

8.    In RJMEC’s analysis, the persistence of the current political and security impasse and the systematic violations of the R-ARCSS is attributable to several factors, including, among others, the following:

a.    Mistrust between the Parties to the R-ARCSS, hence inability to openly and honestly dialogue on issues. This mistrust therefore erodes the political will to push implementation of the R-ARCSS forward.

b.    Lack of collegiality and genuine consultations by Parties to the R-ARCSS resulting in unilateral decisions that further erode trust.

c.     Internal party disputes which affect effective participation in the mechanisms and generally in the implementation process.

d.    The slow traction in unifying forces that has resulted in the forces of two major parties clashing in several parts of the country, which is a serious violation of the Permanent Ceasefire and threat to the R-ARCSS.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

9.        In my role as Interim Chairperson, I have regularly engaged the RTGoNU, the Parties to the R-ARCSS, Stakeholders and Adherents, Regional Guarantors, International Partners and Friends of South Sudan in an effort to address emerging issues as pertains to the R-ARCSS.

10.    I have also briefed the regional, continental, and international guarantors on a very regular basis on the status of the implementation of the R-ARCSS. Particularly, I briefed H.E. Ismail Omar Guelleh, the President of the Republic of Djibouti, and Chair of the Assembly of the IGAD Heads of State and Government, H.E Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Djibouti and Chair of the IGAD Council of Ministers, and other regional leaders and senior state officials.

11.    Furthermore, I briefed the AU Peace and Security Council, the UN Security Council, as well as the AU Panel of the Wise and a joint IGAD and AU delegation in Juba. In these briefings, I highlighted the deteriorating political and security situation in the country, and the ongoing violations of the R-ARCSS. In all these engagements, I have drawn their attention to the serious violations of the R-ARCSS and recommended appropriate remedial measures to safeguard the peace process. 

12.    Recently, RJMEC conducted an audit of the implementing institutions and mechanisms of the Agreement. This confirmed that the current political and security situation has taken a heavy toll on many institutions and mechanisms of the Agreement at the national and State levels, in terms of representation and participation of the Parties to the R-ARCSS as provided for in the responsibility-sharing arrangements. The impasse has led to a systematic violation of the responsibility-sharing arrangements across all crucial bodies including functionality of the executive and legislature alike. The violation must be addressed urgently to return the implementation process back on track. 

13.    I have appealed to the Parties and all peace partners to focus their attention to restore full fidelity to the R-ARCSS in order to safeguard the gains of the peace Agreement and to prevent a relapse to violence in South Sudan. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

14.     My assessment is that the region, the continent and the international community are well aware of the precarious situation that South Sudan finds itself in. It is a shared concern, generally, that despite the commendable progress that had been made since the signing of the R-ARCSS in September 2018, the country is once again at a pivotal moment.

15.     Their views are unanimous that the responsibility for addressing this crisis and for its escalation lies squarely with the RTGoNU leadership and the Parties to the R-ARCSS through the mechanisms provided for, under the Revitalised Peace Agreement. 

16.     RJMEC is therefore seriously concerned with the recent developments on this matter, particularly when parts of the Agreement are continuously violated, in total disregard to its letter and spirit. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

17.     In view of the above, it is my expectation that the RJMEC members will use this Extraordinary Plenary to: 

a.      urge the Parties to the R-ARCSS to cease all forms of hostilities, embrace inclusive dialogue, re-activate the implementing institutions and mechanisms of the Agreement and fully adhere to the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements;

b.      urge the leadership of all the Parties to the Revitalised Agreement to desist from taking actions that further erode the political trust and confidence in the Revitalised Agreement and resolve the political crisis through dialogue and through Agreement institutions and mechanisms;

c.       urge for the expansion and protection of political and civic space to enable the return of peace partners to the Agreement mechanisms and further the creation of a conducive environment for implementation of elections and Constitution-making related tasks, noting barely 13 months are left to December 2026, which is the date of elections as scheduled; and

d.      urge the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) to faithfully adhere to its mandate to implement the R-ARCSS in letter and spirit to realise free, fair and credible elections as scheduled. 

18.    In light of the aforementioned, I would like to urge the RTGoNU to re-activate and re-energize the functionality of all the Agreement institutions and mechanisms, especially the Joint Defense Board and all other Security Mechanisms, fast-tract the Constitution-making and Electoral process by availing adequate funding to all the institutions to enable timely implementation of their respective mandates.

19.    I thank you and wish you fruitful deliberations. 

I Thank You!