• South Sudan’s unity government was founded in February 2020.
• It has yet to establish a unified national army of up to 83,000 personnel.
• The United States withdrew from South Sudan’s peacekeeping apparatus last month.

South Sudanese officials have agreed to prolong the transitional period of their peace deal for 24 months, beginning on February 22, 2023.

On Thursday afternoon, President Salva Kiir and his old arch-rival, Riek Machar, now first-vice president, and other signatories inked the new roadmap in Juba.

Because the transitional period has been extended, South Sudan will not hold long-awaited elections in February of next year.

The new agreement calls for an election in December 2024.

The present transition period is set to finish on February 22, 2023, with a general election, but the leaders have opted to extend the terms of the accord once more.

South Sudan’s unity government was founded in February 2020, but it has yet to establish a unified national army of up to 83,000 personnel, which was a crucial component of the peace agreement.

However, under the new agreement, approximately 53,000 soldiers will be registered in the army beginning this month.

The United States withdrew from South Sudan’s peacekeeping apparatus last month. It was a significant contributor to the process, supplying aircraft services and logistics.

The US State Department accused South Sudan’s authorities of failing to reach major reform milestones outlined in the agreement inked in September 2018 to halt the country’s five-year conflict.

The heads of missions from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway, known as the Troika for South Sudan, boycotted the gathering.