CTSAMVM’s incoming chairman, Major General Desta Abichu, chairing the meeting of the board for the first time, noted that CTSAMVM ‘s Technical Committee had now met four times to deal with violations of the Cessation of Hostilities signed in February in Addis Ababa. He praised the armed signatories to the agreement for a significant reduction of violence except in Yei River state in Equatoria, Western Bahr Al Ghazal in Wau and around Upper Nile, but even there the conflicts were subsiding as the parties observed significant restraint and positive interaction. General Desta said CTSAMVM was now ready to deploy more observers provided that donors could come up with requisite financial support. He praised the donor community for helping CTSAMVM but hoped more support would now be available as South Sudanese parties demonstrated their commitment to the ceasefire.
All South Sudanese members of the Board emphasized the non-signatory parties, and in particular the National Salvation Alliance of General Cirilo should observe the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and immediately stop fighting both with Government forces and with the SPLM-IO forces in Equatoria. The SPLM-IO representatives also insisted on the need to release all political and military prisoners. The SSOA, an alliance of eight parties, expressed cautious optimism on implementation of the Agreement and on the ceasefire. The Former Detainees also expressed concern over the delays in the separation and cantonment of the various armed forces.
The Board, at the suggestion of the regional and international partners, agreed in the future to hold monthly meetings in Juba. The CTSAMVM secretariat announced it was calling donors for a meeting this week in Juba to seek financial support to deploy national members in all the ‘hot spot’ areas. UNMISS representative promised UNMISS would continue cooperation with CTSAMVM to provide cover and logistics. The Board also agreed on revised Terms of Reference to be ready for adoption at their next meeting on January 10, 2019, in Juba.
A parallel meeting, chaired by the AU Special Envoy Ambassador Ismail Wais, was also held in Khartoum at the end of last week to establish other important security sector bodies for the South Sudan peace process – the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC), the Joint Defense Board (JDB), and the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) as well as the Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) board. They all agreed that their next and subsequent meetings would take place in Juba. This means the security mechanisms and institutions of the agreement are all now up and running. The only institutions that have now to come into existence are the Independent Boundary Commission and the Technical Boundary Committee. Their establishment is linked to contributions of the African Union C-5 countries in the IGAD Plus mechanism, – South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Rwanda and Chad.
