File: UN Security Council in session

A political analyst believes the region and the international community will sanction President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar if they fail to address the outstanding issues within the next hundred days.

The two principals agreed to extend the period in Entebbe, Uganda, on Thursday.

The meeting was organized by the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

The parties were expected to form a coalition government next week as agreed upon in Addis Ababa in May this year.

This is the second time the pre-interim period has been extended to allow for the full implementation of the security arrangements.

These include training and unification of the army, the national security and the police.

The new pre-transitional period will start on November 12 and ends on February 20, 2020.

The coalition government is expected to help stabilize the country and eventually bring to an end the suffering of the people.

However, last month, the United States threatened to impose fresh sanctions against South Sudan leaders if they failed to form a coalition government as scheduled.

Bryan Hunt, the State Department’s office director for Sudan and South Sudan, said options include sanctions targeting South Sudan’s elite or restrictions on their travel to the United States.

The five-year civil war, which was triggered by power wrangles between Kiir and Machar in 2013, has reportedly cost nearly 400,000 deaths.

Currently, some senior army and SPLA-IO generals are sanctioned by the United States.

Senior government officials have also been blacklisted.

Last year, the AU Peace and Security Council planned to impose sanctions on some South Sudan leaders in an attempt to ensure effective and efficient implementation the peace deal.

In a Communiqué of a meeting held on 26 April 2018, the Council requested the AU Commission and IGAD “to develop and submit proposals on punitive measures which could be applied against all those obstructing peace restoration efforts in South Sudan”.

Dr. James Okuk – a political analyst – described the new extension as the last chance for Kiir and Machar to demonstrate their political will towards the peace agreement.

“There is no sanction against those small ones anymore. They say the sanctions this time round will target the two,” Dr Okuk said on the Dawn breakfast show.

“If they succeed in this 100 days and implement the pending tasks, the issue of sanction will automatically drop; no one will talk about the sanction. If they fail to implement this agreement, there will definitely be sanction. The impact of this sanction will not be good; it will bring problems.”

The decision arrived at yesterday in Entebbe between Kiir and Machar was mediated by President Yoweri Museveni, Sudanese Sovereign Council leader, Abdalftah El-Burhan, and Kenya’s Special Envoy, Kalonzo Musyoka.

Uganda, Sudan and the parties will establish a mechanism to supervise the implementation of agreed items.

The Entebbe summit further resolved to ask IGAD countries to address the status of Dr. Riek Machar and also urge the international community to continue supporting this revitalized peace process.

The parties will review the progress of the implementation after 50 days.