By Yiep Joseph
Peace monitors and the partners have expressed worries over a series of violations among the parties to the 2018 peace agreement.
Some of the stakeholders raised worries during the fourth extraordinary meeting of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) held on Tuesday.
The meeting, which focuses on assessing the implementation of the peace agreement, was dominated by a call to dialogue to rescue peace from collapse.
Addressing the stakeholders during the meeting, Col. Gunnar Gabrielsen, Chief of Staff of CTSAMVM, expressed worries as violations continue in some parts of the country.
CTSAMVM stands for Ceasefire & Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring & Verification Mechanism.
It monitors and verifies violations through conducting patrols, gathering agreement violations, and reporting for further actions as mandated by the peace deal.
Gabrielsen expressed that violations remain a threat to the peace agreement.
“With reference to the high number of continued and repeated violations of the agreements of the agreement, it is the assessment of CTSAMVM that there can be little doubt that the agreement is in real danger,” Gabrielsen stated in the report.
“CTSAMVM can state beyond any reasonable doubt that the permanent ceasefire is continually and repeatedly violated by signatory parties,” he added.
He urged the parties to the peace agreement to cease violence, citing that dialogue remains the best way to handle misunderstandings.
Also, the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), which oversees the peace process, raised a similar concern.
In his speech Ambassador Major General (Ret.) George Aggrey Owinow stated that a series of violations threatened the peace agreement.
“If the current challenges are not urgently addressed, there is a high risk of reversal of all the gains already made,” Owinow said.
“This could lead to a collapse of the agreement altogether.” He added,
He expressed that misunderstandings among parties continue to result in armed confrontations.
“An RJMEC audit found the infighting has weakened the very power-sharing government the agreement was designed to create,” he said.
Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro acknowledged challenges but struck a more optimistic tone regarding planned elections in December 2026.
He reported that pre-election activities are over 64% complete and that key institutions like the National Elections Commission are operational, though underfunded.
“We have made progress unlike before,” Lomuro said.
“Once funding is provided, institutions can work around the clock to complete the remaining activities and prepare for elections.” He added,
Anita Kiki Gbeho, the U.N.’s acting special representative in South Sudan, delivered the stark warning.
She said the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement is “severely fractured” by the warring parties’ “unilateral actions” and “selective adherence.”
“In our analysis, the challenges facing the peace agreement are man-made, fundamentally political, and only resolvable through inclusive dialogue,” Gbeho told the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC).
The crisis facing the peace agreement in South Sudan, she said, has had devastating consequences.