President Kiir and Dr. Machar hold talks in Khartoum | File photo

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in South Sudan is calling on President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar to earnestly supervise the implementation of the pre-transitional issues within the extended six months period.

David Shearer who has welcomed the unanimous extension- of the period before the formation of a unity government -advised that; one of the best ways to timely address issues that may arise during the implementation period is to engage the President and his First Vice President-designate in followup meetings.

“There is need to have regular meetings between President Kiir and Riek Machar to review the progress. That’ll build trust and confidence and extend a signal to South Sudanese that the agreement is on track,” Mr. Shearer said.

In a meeting convened by IGAD in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, at the weekend, peace delegates agreed to extend the pre-transition period for six months.

This came after the main signatories to the new peace deal – President Salva Kiir and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar – disagreed over unimplemented security arrangements.

The head of UN mission in South Sudan described it as a positive move by the parties, despite the country having lost six months of no tangible results from the agreed security sector arrangements.

“The delay is regrettable but a unanimous agreement for an extension is a positive development, and is a sign of goodwill between the parties to end the suffering of their people,” Mr. Shearer said in a statement extended to Eye Radio.

He added that the next six-month will give the parties more time to achieve the benchmarks agreed upon and make peace a reality.

“…a number of fundamental issues remain unresolved, including the formation of a unified security force and the issue of boundaries and states,” he said.

The parties have agreed to mobilize funds, demilitarize towns, including Juba, train and deploy joint VIP protection units, and canton all forces up until November 2019.

The peace parties are expected to form the interim government in November.