The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission has welcomed the appointment of Dr. Riek Machar as First Vice President of the Transitional Government of National Unity.

In a presidential decree read on SSTV on Thursday, President Salva Kiir appointed the leader, Riek Machar, as the First Vice President of the country in accordance with the power-sharing provisions in the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.

In a statement issued on Friday evening, Deputy Chairperson of JMEC, François Fall, ‘commended the government for taking this step, necessary for the formation of the TGoNU’.

However, Mr Fall urged the parties to expedite planning for the phased and sequenced implementation of transitional security arrangements for Juba, in order to accelerate the relocation of forces from the capital and begin the movement of Dr. Machar’s guard.

On Friday, President Kiir called upon Dr Riek to ‘report to Juba immediately’ to form the interim government within 7 days.