The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (DDRC) has blamed the National Transitional Committee (NTC) for being negligent and failing to report its challenges to the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity.

DDRC, a body tasked with the mandate of collecting arms illegally owned by citizens says NTC failed to cooperate with them and a range of reported disarmament-related challenges did not reach the desks of signatories to the peace deal.

In a meeting convened by the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission last week, DDRC Chairperson, Ayuen Alier Jongroor said his office has been facing multiple challenges, which hampered their success to disarm communities.

The DDRC was also mandated by the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) to take responsibility for managing the social and economic reintegration of ex-combatants.

However, the body is faced with multiple issues according to Alier who said DDRC is treated like a group of intruders that got their offices from the backdoor.

“The DDR has difficulty accessing the leadership of NPTC/NTC, this has caused lack of advocacy for DDR activities at the political level in the country yet the chairperson of NTC treats DDR just like any other intruder. To tell you the truth, the chairperson for NTC is directly responsible for challenges that have been facing DDR.

Alier added that meeting the NTC chairperson was a task adding that of the NTC the guards are alerted.

“So, this is completely to tell you that either the DDR is not wanted. Not everything is about money, sometimes when we come to his office we will be seeking advice.

“That is why you are seeing now in all the leadership of Government, including the president and all the vice presidents, none of them is talking about DDR because they don’t have information about the status of DDR. Whenever any diplomatic meeting is organized, no one talks about DDR because they are not well informed about DDR and its activities. We have been denied access to meet the leadership of NTC and communicate our challenges but today we got access to tell exactly what is happening and that is why we requested for this meeting,” he said.

Regina Joseph Kaba, Deputy Chairperson DDR added that visits to cantonments and Barracks were not possible due to the challenge of transportation and the coronavirus outbreak.

However, DDRC also stressed the issue of lack of coordination with the security mechanisms such as the JMCC, and Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) that hindered DDRC activities.

The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs Angelina Teny acknowledged that DDR was central to the transformation of the security sector and their activities should be supported.

DDRC was established in September 2019 through a Republican Decree whereas the other transitional security mechanisms were established towards the end of 2018. However, the body is lagging behind in executing its mandates.

The Chairperson of RJMEC Charles Tai urged the DDRC to exert additional effort to catch up and synchronize its activities with the other mechanisms.

“Without doubt, it is important that the DDRC catches up meaningfully because the DDR process is a complex, lengthy, and costly undertaking. Consequently, it must be effectively managed, funded, and supported.”