In his opening remarks during the RJMEC 28th Monthly Meeting held in Juba,, Chairperson Amb. Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai said as the second month of the extended transition period begins, “a lot of work remains to be done if the Roadmap timelines are to be adhered to as promised.”

In terms of the preparation for elections as stipulated in the Roadmap, Amb. Gituai told the RJMEC members that no progress has been made in the reconstitution of the Political Parties Council despite the law having been enacted over 8 months ago.

As such, he emphasized that the reconstitution of the Council is critical, paving way for the registration of political parties, adding that the enactment of the National Elections Act and its operationalization is way behind schedule. 

“As a result of these delays, all the elections-related tasks including the establishment and functioning of institutions that drive the elections process, are behind schedule,” he said.

Furthermore, Amb. Gituai commended the recent progress made in the unification of the middle and lower levels of command of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) where the Parties agreed on a responsibility sharing ratio of 60:30:10 to the SSPDF (South Sudan People's Defence Forces), SPLA-IO and SSOA (South Sudan Opposition Alliance) respectively. 

“However, the forces which graduated during Phase I are still in training centers, and their delayed redeployment has hindered the commencement of Phase II NUF training,” he noted. On the humanitarian front, RJMEC Chairperson noted that access and safety of humanitarian workers, goods, and assets remain a challenge. 

“These are matters that the RTGoNU should urgently address including by providing security along humanitarian corridors, protecting humanitarian workers and their assets and holding perpetrators to account.” In his recommendations, Amb. Gituai urged the RTGoNU to continue to consult in the spirit of collegial collaboration and consensus in an attempt to address emerging issues during implementation of the Agreement.

He reitarated the need for the provision of adequate and predictable funding for the implementation of the critical pending tasks of the Agreement, particularly, the Constitution Making and Electoral processes and the completion of the unification of forces and operationalization of all the enacted laws. 

In his conclusion, Amb. Gituai said “Finally, faced with the current setbacks and the slow pace of implementation, it is encumbent upon us to redouble our efforts, encourage and support the RTGoNU to accelerate the pace of implementation going forward, in order to provide a much needed impetus to the peace process.”