Gen. Cirilo  attacks Kiir, Machar for failing to implement ‘flawed’ peace deal

JUBA, JULY 10, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – The leader of rebel National Salvation Front (NAS) has slammed President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar for failing to implement what he calls a flawed peace agreement.

In a statement marking the 12^thanniversary of South Sudan’s independence, Cirillo said that the R-ARCSS is a “flawed” agreement that has not addressed the root causes of the conflict in the country and accused Kiir and Machar of lacking the political will to implement the agreement.

“NAS’ refusal to sign the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) has been vindicated beyond reasonable doubt, five years down the road,” Cirillo said.

“We maintain that the agreement is flawed because it did not address the root causes of the conflict in the country,” he added.

He said that his group “correctly saw the agreement as that of sharing power and resources between South Sudan political elite and interest groups in the region, rather than an opportunity to address the root causes of the problem in the new country.”

Cirillo also pointed out that the parties to the R-ARCSS have failed to implement their own agreement by the February 2023 deadline.

“The parties to the R-ARCSS even failed to implement their own flawed agreement by the February 2023 deadline due to lack of political will,” he said.

“The R-ARCSS has not resolved the root causes of the conflicts in South Sudan but has merely created a mechanism where the elite can find a way of existing in an uneasy partnership at the expense of the ordinary people,” he added.

The R-ARCSS was signed in September 2018 by Kiir and Machar, who had been at war for five years.

The agreement was intended to end the conflict and bring peace to South Sudan, but has been plagued by delays and setbacks, and violence has continued in parts of the country.