Both the government and the SPLM in Opposition have disagreed with the International Crisis Group over a warning that the peace agreement may collapse unless the parties agree on the contentious issues.

These include the cantonment sites in the Bahr al Ghazal and Equatoria regions and the issue of 28 states,

In a new report, the ICG says the implementation of the peace agreement is stalled and fighting is already spreading around the country.

The International Crisis Group says the ceasefire continues to hold in some areas while fighting is also in other towns, giving an example of the conflict in Wau that has displaced thousands of people.

The group said the increasing number of conflicts in other regions could cause renewed fighting in Greater Upper Nile or Juba and lead to a far more explosive return to conflict.

It also said there has been no joint security oversight or move toward unification or demobilization.

But the government has dismissed the warning.

“Bad wish”

The Minister of Information, Michael Makuei says the report is a bad wish for South Sudan.

“Those who write such report are those who wish South Sudan every failure and they are people who are not for peace in South Sudan,” Mr Makuei told Eye Radio.

“So these are warlords who would all the time like to see the whole country in crisis so that they benefit out of all these.”

For its part, the SPLM-IO says it is too early to judge the progress of the implementation of the peace agreement.

“I think it’s too early to judge the agreement that it’s going to collapse because there is enough cooperation,” said Nyarji Germelili, deputy spokesman of Dr Riek Machar.

“The process is a bit slow, and it needs time. So I don’t think that the research that have come out that the peace agreement is going to collapse is true.”

In its report, the ICG warned that a collapse of the agreement could have serious implications for regional stability.

The group urged IGAD to ensure that all parties renew their commitment to the agreement during a summit in Kigali within the next two weeks.

It also asked IGAD to direct the parties to act on key provisions of the agreement and IGAD resolutions.

This includes IGAD’s directions for a detailed plan on cantonment of forces and clarification of the terms of reference for the committee to the 28 states.