The Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) and Former Botswana President, Festus Mogae, arrived in Malakal on Wednesday 13 January, 2016.

Upon his arrival, Chairman Mogae and his delegation were warmly welcomed by more than 4,000 Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Protection of Civilians Site in Malakal, carrying different slogans for peace.

Addressing the gathering, Mogae said he heard the pleas and message of peace and promised to share it with all the party members to the peace agreement.

“I have heard you and you say yes to peace, yes to peace and justice, yes to peace and equality, yes to ten states, that is your message. We will take it as you said; we will report your message to your leaders who are negotiating in Juba,” Mogae said.

He further told the gathering that some progress has been made on the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) since the government, the opposition, Former Detainees and other political parties agreed to nominate their ministries.

“We expect all these groups to nominate their ministers to be appointed by the president so that by the end of this month, we hope that a TGoNU consisting of all the groups that have been fighting will have been formed,” JMEC Chair added.

He told the IDPs that their living conditions are not acceptable and that peace must come so that they can go back home and rebuild their lives.

Festus Mogae also met with the state government representatives comprising of governors, SPLA officials, local authorities, representatives of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and members of the Monitoring and Verification Team.

The JMEC Chairman will continue his state tour with one-day visit to Bentiu on Thursday 14 January, 2016.