By Yiep Joseph
The 2018 peace agreement that was meant to end conflict in South Sudan continues to struggle with violations.
Despite having peace monitors, the space continues to be filled with reports and statement after statement with no immediate accountability.
The confrontations between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) persist in some areas.
While armed confrontation continues, it is high time for CTSAMVM to uncover those who violate the ceasefire through constant, honest, and impartial verifications.
CTSAMVM stands for Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism.
This body plays a crucial role in monitoring and verifying the implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2018.
The ARCSS stipulated that the CTSAMM be responsible for monitoring and verifying the implementation of the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements.
While CTSAMVM continue to conduct meetings, visiting some areas where there is conflict to verify, confusion come in when there is not one held accountable for violating the peace agreement.
The body has continued to give reports to the concerned institution; however, the violation could not stop, leaving question about who is failing them, Is CTSAMVM failing on its own, or are there institutions failing them?
However, on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Teshome Anagawe Ayana, Chairperson of CTSAMVM, at the Extraordinary Board Meeting, expressed worries about continued confrontations.
“Regrettably, despite the efforts and visits of regional actors and international partners, the parties remain on the battlefield rather than returning to dialogue,” he said during his opening remark.
This is not the first for the CTSAMVM to report but parties to the peace agreement continue to violate the ceasefire.
Speaking to this outlet, Edmund Yakani, Executive Director for the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), claimed that some institutions fail the CTSAMVM.
According to Yakani, CTSAMVM can only verify, monitor, and report while the parties to the peace agreement adjust their activities as necessary.
“CTSAMVM is only to monitor, verify, and report,” Yakani said.
“You know CTSAMVM in the agreement, legally CTSAMVM cannot punish anybody; CTSAMVM has no mandate to impose punishment,” he added.
He claimed that while the presidency initiates an appropriate mechanism to respect the peace agreement, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), on the other hand, can make decisions on the violation of the peace agreement in South Sudan.
Yakani therefore blamed the two top decision-making mechanisms for failing the activities of CTSAMVM.
“People who are failing CTSAMVM are the presidency; the people who are failing CTSAMVM are the IGAD,” he said.
“If the presidency failed, the IGAD executive secretary is supposed to translate,” he added.
According to the peace agreement, the presidency consists of the president, the first vice president, and the other vice presidents brought by parties to the peace agreement.
Meanwhile, according to Yakani, the current situation is the opposite, with CTSAMVM narrowed to a statement and report with no immediate action to end the violations.
“The blame goes to IGAD Executive Security for not taking responsibility in making sure that IGAD leadership makes a decision on the violation of the peace agreement in South Sudan; those are my messages to them,” he said.
He called on the South Sudanese and the world to continue to challenge the presidency and the IGAD so that they do their job of ensuring peace in the country.
“My message to South Sudanese is that let us not keep silent; let us keep challenging IGAD and challenging the presidency for them to undertake their responsibility to transition the country from violence to peace,” he urged.
He blamed the presidency for tending not to demonstrate responsibility for respecting the agreement and permanent ceasefire.
Yakani expressed that parties to the peace agreement continue to obstruct the work of CTSAMVM.
“But sometimes access to CTSAMVM is sometimes denied by parties to the peace agreement,” he said.
“Like Torit now, SSPDF will deny CTSAMVM to go there if it is the other side of SPLA-IO; they will deny CTSAMVM to go and verify because they fear to be blamed by CTSAMVM or to be reported that they are the causers by CTSAMVM,” he added.
He claimed that due to some of the restrictions, it continues to issue statement over statement.
“That is why CTSAMVM ends up with statement after statement after statement without action; that is their mandate only,” he said.
Yakani called on the leaders to embark on dialogue and ensure that the peace agreement is implemented.