President Salva Kiir held meeting with R-JMEC chairperson Charles Tai Gituai (center) on the peace implementation. Friday, June 9, 2023. | Photo: Office of the President.

President Salva Kiir met with head of the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) on Friday to discuss the progress and pending tasks in the 2018 peace implementation.

The president met Maj. General Charles Tai Gituai a week after the peace monitoring body assessed that the peace deal is moving at a slow phase and parties to the deal are not working in a collegial manner.

In the Friday meeting, Cabinet Minister Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro reportedly briefed Kiir on the implementation of the peace roadmap “and expressed the commitment of the government to implement the peace process.”

“Dr. Elia said that the government is determined to complete the permanent constitution-making process before conducting elections,” reads part of the press release published on President Kiir’s official Facebook page.

Gituai, on the other hand, is also said to have made assurance of full implementation of the peace agreement and timely elections at the end of the extended transitional period.

Meanwhile, in its report extended to the national parliament on Tuesday, June 6, R-JMEC said the peace parties have become reluctant since peace guarantors no longer have leverage to put pressure on them.

The Committee on Peace and Reconciliation at the parliament – which received the report – said it has learned the presidency has never conducted public awareness on the status of peace implementation, as well as peace dissemination to South Sudanese.