File: Government representative, Dr. Barnaba Marial and NAS' General Thomas Cirillo Swaka at Saint Egidio headquarters in Rome in 2020. | Credit |AFP or licensors)

The South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) has agreed to be incorporated into the ceasefire monitoring body — CTSAM-VM starting in January 2021.

This comes following SSOMA’s return to the workshop in Rome after walking out on Tuesday to protest acts of violence in the country.

The technical workshop was convened by the Community of Saint’Egidio and facilitated by the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring and Verification (CTSAM-VM) Secretariat, the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The Rome workshop was aimed at building trust between SSOMA and South Sudan government to create a conducive environment for further negotiations.

During the technical workshop, the parties agreed that SSOMA shall start the inclusion process into CTSAM-VM structures starting January 01, 2021.

“The workshop was a very successful one to its objects which oriented us the newcomers and educated us about CTSSAM-VM and its mandate in terms of its structures and working modalities in monitoring, verification and reporting,” said General Samuel Ladu, SSOMA’s focal person.

The representative of the SSPDF at the workshop, General Emanuel Rabi says before January 2021, the IGAD and CTSAM-VM will be working on procedures and finalizing other arrangements before SSOMA joins.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Dr. Paulo Impegliazzo says the commitment is important for the resumption of talks.

SSOMA is a coalition of opposition groups led by Thomas Cirillo, Paul Malong, Pagan Amum, among others.

The technical workshop was organized by the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, CTSSAM-VM.