South Sudan: Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) – Press Release (09.12.2021)

Thursday, 9 December 2021, Juba, South Sudan

TRANSITIONAL SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS REMAIN STALLED, FRUSTRATIONS GROWING 

The delayed implementation of Transitional Security Arrangements, including the unification of forces and their redeployment, has contributed to growing frustrations amongst the people of South Sudan.

Speaking during its 20thmonthly meeting held in Juba yesterday, Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) Interim Chairperson Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai said:

We are now past the mid-way mark of the timeline of the Transitional Period. The Parties are far behind schedule in implementation of key tasks. As we close the year 2021, therefore, we need clarity from the Revitalised Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) on its plan for the implementation of the outstanding tasks in the coming 14 months.” 

“It is now over two months since the Presidency directed the deployment of three assessment teams to training centers in preparation for the graduation of Phase 1 of the NUF (Necessary Unified Force). It is disheartening to see that this directive of the Presidency has not been carried out,” he added. 

In his address, Maj. Gen. Gituai further expressed concerns that defections of senior military officials mainly from the SPLA-IO (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition) to the SSPDF (South Sudan Peoples Defence Forces), “erode trust amongst the two parties and public confidence in the peace process.”

Regarding the living conditions of cantonmentsites and training centers, Maj. Gen. Gituai said the situation is “dire and that the occupants continue to abandon the sites in search of food and other essentials for survival.” 

“The situation has undermined the morale of security forces cantoned or in training and risks eroding their trust in the political leadership of the country,” he said. 

“I would like to remind us that this is the last meeting before we break for Christmas and the New Year. I hope that we will return with concrete plans and renewed vigour and determination to bring durable peace, stability and prosperity to the people and country of South Sudan,” he concluded.

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South Sudan: South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) – Re: Congratulatory Message on Appointment of Gen. Gregory (04.12.2021)

South Sudan: Warrap State-Kuajok – Governor’s Office letter to Inspector of Police – Subject: Mark Anei Madling (04.12.2021)

South Sudan: Government of Jonlei State – Condemnation of Recurrent Attacks on Jonglei State’s Citizens by Suspected Criminals from Greater Pibor Administrative Area (03.12.2021)

South Sudan: Kongor Dialogue Communique, Kongor, CPAA, 22-26 November 2021 (26.11.2021)

South Sudan: “We will return home when UNMISS and the government say we don’t need to be afraid anymore,” says displaced Tambura tradesperson (22.11.2021)

Mbiyo is one of the nearly 9,000 displaced people sheltering at the Temporary Operating Base set up by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan to restore some semblance of calm and stability.

TAMBURA, South Sudan, November 22, 2021 – Mbiyo Morgan is a tall man. In his early forties, he is a father, a husband, a farmer, a trader and a motorcycle mechanic. Like most others across South Sudan, Mbiyo wears many hats as he tries to put food on the table for his children.

His palms are darkened and rough, a testament to years of hard labour. But he was happy. At least till fighting erupted in Tambura, Western Equatoria, killing people and forcing tens of thousands to flee for their lives.

Today, Mbiyo is one of the nearly 9,000 displaced people sheltering at the Temporary Operating Base set up by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to restore some semblance of calm and stability here.

“We have suffered for the last three months because of the fighting, the killing,” he says as he inspects a mechanical fault on a customer’s motorcycle.

Mbiyo has been returning to operate his small workshop, following a relative de-escalation of tensions in the area. He says he craves for the day he will be return his home. A home that is only some two kilometres away.

“There is very little to go back to though,” he muses. Many of the houses in his area have either been burnt down or broken into. “Our household property, food, clothes, they’re all gone. We have forgotten these things. Whatever we have on our backs is all we own now,” he adds almost philosophically but the pain of loss is evident.

He feels the situation is becoming safer everyday safer but is disappointed that there has only been a solitary food distribution exercise since he began sheltering at the UNMISS temporary base, though humanitarian partners are doing their best to scale up assistance.

The urgency behind Mbiyo’s apparent equanimity is real: His family is running out of food. “I did plant crops in my farm this year and they are almost ready to be harvested but I am afraid to travel to my land. I have responsibilities and my family cannot afford to lose me. At least, with the mechanical work I’m doing I can feed them once a day. If I die, they will starve,” he states simply but emphatically.

Meanwhile in Mambulu, ten kilometres away on the road to Yambio, a sinewy 35-year-old man has braved his fears and is out spreading some sorghum and beans on the ground to dry. His compound is badly in need of clearing, with pumpkins sprouting here and there.

Juma does not mind this, nor does he mind the overgrown weeds and bushes encroaching upon his once clean compound. He has been here for the last four days with his wife and three children, none older than 10, specifically to collect some food from the garden to feed them.

“My family and I fled to the South Sudan Peoples Defense Forces garrison in town,” he revealed, reminiscing about the days immediately following armed attacks in the area. “We are safe but there is no food, and one needs money to buy anything. I am here to get some food from the garden and will have to go back to the garrison,” he adds. Risks are calculated in terms of life versus death, says Juma. He adds that he took the risk of trekking back to his garden with his children because his family is currently more likely to die from hunger.

“We may need to come back here as a group with some of my neighbours so we can stay longer, but for now, we will have to walk back with the children and with as much food as we can carry,” he says.

The fighting has stopped for now and a fragile peace has returned to Tambura. Markets and some shops are open, and the main road, which was deserted till a couple of weeks ago, is cautiously showing signs of life.

At his shelter in the UNMISS base, Mbiyo gently rocks his four-month-old son, checking the boy’s temperature with a tender touch to the forehead. His child was barely a month old when the family had to flee home. “We will go back home when UNMISS says we can leave and the government says it is safe to return,” he says as he peels his eyes from his baby and looks to the setting sun and the long shadows cast by the UNMISS armoured vehicles guarding the base.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking as the crops await harvest and farmers run the risk of losing all their food. But people like Mbiyo and Juma will have to constantly assess their situation and live a day at a time, carefully keeping alive the flame of hope for a better tomorrow for their children.

South Sudan: Jonglei State – Condemnation of Incident that Occurred in Bor Town of Jonglei State on November 19, 2021 (20.11.2021)

South Sudan: Athian Ding Athian – Appreciation Letter to the President of the Republic of South Sudan H.E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit (14.11.2021)