Major General Teshome Anagaw Ayana, Chairman of CTSAMVM, in a recent photo. (Courtesy of CTSAMVM)

JUBA, South Sudan (Eye Radio) – Ceasefire Monitoring Chairperson Maj Gen Teshome Anagawe Ayana issued a direct call to South Sudan’s warring parties today, demanding an immediate recommitment to the Permanent Ceasefire and an end to the “politicization” of security violations.

Speaking at the Beijing Juba Hotel on Thursday, February 19, 2026, during the year’s first Technical Committee meeting, Maj Gen Ayana told senior representatives that the peace process has reached a dangerous “before and after” threshold following the March 2025 Nasir incident.

He moved beyond mere observation, challenging the signatories to grant monitoring teams unrestricted access and to provide immediate updates on the long-delayed deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).

Maj Gen Ayana stated the security environment currently blocks CTSAMVM from conducting timely verifications, and identified denied air access and internal disputes within signatory parties as the primary obstacles to peace oversight.

He warned that the Permanent Ceasefire is no longer consistently holding in practice, citing repeated armed confrontations between the SSPDF and SPLM/A-IO across Upper Nile, Unity, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Jonglei States.

Compounding the security crisis, the Chairperson announced that severe resource constraints have forced a drastic restructuring of the mission. As of January 2026, CTSAMVM has shut down monitoring teams in Yei, Bentiu, and Yambio, reducing its total field presence from six teams to just three.

The remaining monitors must now manage expanded geographic zones from bases in Juba, Malakal, and Wau. This consolidation occurs as the mission faces an overwhelming workload, having recorded 407 alleged violations between August 2025 and January 2026 alone.

Maj Gen Ayana specifically called out the Joint Defence Board (JDB) for failing to respond to a December 2025 request regarding the status of unified force training and deployment.

He emphasized that transparency is not optional, noting that the Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JVMM) failed to approve crucial activity plans for four of the last ten months.

The Chairperson reserved his strongest language for the surge in sexual and gender-based violence, describing attacks on children and women as “unacceptable.”

He reminded the parties that Article 2.1.10.3 of the R-ARCSS strictly prohibits such violence and demanded that leadership hold their forces accountable.

“Agreements are upheld not by signatures, but through consistent compliance,” Ayana concluded. He officially declared the meeting open with a challenge to the delegates: to move beyond principles and demonstrate peace through measurable practice and unrestricted cooperation.