Norway’s Ambassador to South Sudan Roar Haugsdal has warned that unilateral amendments to South Sudan’s 2018 Peace agreement could undermine the country’s fragile transition and threaten prospects for lasting peace.
Speaking in Juba on Thursday, May 7, after meeting Transitional National Legislative Assembly Speaker Joseph Ngere Baciko, Ambassador Haugsdal said the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) remains the foundation of legitimacy for the transitional Government.
He stressed that changes made outside agreed procedures would violate both the “letter and spirit” of the accord. The warning comes as President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s allies push for amendments aimed at paving the way for elections planned for December 2026. The proposed changes have faced opposition from the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and the opposition SPLM-IO led by detained First Vice-President Riek Machar.
Under the peace agreement, amendments must first secure approval from both the transitional government and the monitoring commission before reaching parliament. Critics argue the current process bypasses those requirements and risks weakening the agreement’s legal authority.
Civil society activist Edmond Yakani cautioned that ignoring the established procedures could destabilise the transition and provoke regional and international backlash.