By Simon Deng
The implementation of the peace agreement in South Sudan is moving slowly due to funding shortfall, Martin Elia Lomoro, the Minister for Cabinet Affairs said.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday after arriving from Rwanda with other government officials, Lomoro said the government is facing unnecessary blame over the slow pace.
“There is no agreement in the world at all that is implemented only by the agreement, the government has contributed as far as I know from my records, 81 million dollars, since the signing of the agreement,” Lomoro said.
“There are things that need money, when they say the agreement is going slowly it is because we are not able to get money necessary to graduate the forces,” he said.
Lomoro said that the delegation that visited Rwanda included 15 military generals from all parties to the agreement, two police officers, 9 politicians including 4 ministers and representative of political parties.
It was a five-day post-conflict seminar organised by the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Rwanda Peace Academy (RPA).
Statements blaming the government “are based on inadequate understanding of where we are,” Lomoro said.
“The peace agreement is not just the structure of the government, no, it is about implementing activities of various provisions.”
Lomoro said that the ceasefire has been holding for more than three years, and noted that the structures of the revitalized government of national unity are on track, and the government determined to graduate the forces.
“We have arms embargo, we are already determined to graduate these forces with or without guns, with or without food, yes, it is only slow because they think that we have not graduated that is about money and we have challenges of money,” he said.
