East African Bloc Approves New Chair To Monitor Peace In South Sudan

2025-02-09 08:00:20

(MENAFN- IANS) Juba, Feb 10 (IANS) The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, has endorsed the appointment of George Aggrey Owinow of Kenya as the new chair of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), the South Sudan peace monitoring body said.

Owinow, a retired major-general, was nominated by the Kenyan government and approved by IGAD to replace Charles Tai Gituai, who served in the same capacity since August 2020, the RJMEC said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

"Owinow's arrival comes at an important juncture of the revitalized peace agreement where a range of critical pending tasks need to be implemented to pave the way for elections in December 2026," the statement said.

"Owinow has had a distinguished military and diplomatic career spanning more than four decades, serving in different security and diplomatic missions in Africa," the JMEC said.

He served as Kenya's High Commissioner to Uganda in 2020-2022, and as deputy force commander for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2019-2020, Xinhua news agency reported.

The RJMEC has called for more efforts to secure the necessary financial resources to quickly implement the critical pending tasks, including the unification of forces to help meet the new extended deadline for the holding of elections in December 2026.

The RJMEC, in its latest Quarterly Report released on January 21, said the ruling unity government needs to demonstrate political will and commitment to overcoming the many challenges and laying the groundwork for lasting and sustainable peace in South Sudan.

Earlier the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) expressed concern about the escalating violence between cattle keepers and settled farming communities in Eastern Equatoria State, which has reportedly left at least 35 people dead.

Nicholas Haysom, special representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of UNMISS, strongly condemned the ongoing violence and called on all involved parties to demonstrate restraint

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