This Week in South Sudan – Week 3

Tuesday 16 January

• The SPLA (IO)-appointed governor of Central Equatoria, Mario Laku Thomas, has defected to the National Salvation Front led by Thomas Cirillo. Laku claimed he took more than 90 SPLA (IO) soldiers with him.

Wednesday 17 January

• According to a new report by the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism, SPLA soldiers and security personnel sexually assaulted more than 150 women and children around Juba in 2017. CTSAMM further reports that both sides of the conflict have violated the December 2017 agreement.

Thursday 18 January

• The team of attorneys defending the former SPLA (IO) spokesperson James Gatdet against treason charges withdrew from the ongoing court trial citing unfair prosecution procedures.
• SPLA (IO) accused the CTSAMM mediators of being biased, allowing the government to violate the recent cessation of hostilities agreement.
• The IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, Ambassador Ismail Wais, visited Juba for consultations with government officials in preparation for the continued revitalization process next month.
• Bloomberg on farming in the Equatoria: “Farmers Risk Lashes as War Decimates South Sudan Breadbasket”

Friday 19 January

• Reported clashes between SPLA (IO) and government forces in several places, including Eastern and Central Equatoria State and Western Bahr el Ghazal.
• More than 250,000 children are “at risk of imminent death” because of severe malnutrition, as the UN warns of a “lost generation” due to South Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
• President Salva Kiir rejected calls to reappoint Paul Malong to his former post as the SPLA chief of staff, saying it would amount to setting “a bad precedent”.

Monday 22 January

• The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission called on all conflict parties to fulfil their obligations to the international ceasefire monitoring body, CTSAMM.