In this review, SUDD analyzes the recent decision by President Salva Kiir Mayardit to reinstitute the ten states system of governance in South Sudan. They focus their attention on reactions from the stakeholders of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), the public, the region, and international community, surveying the moods of those involved. They also examine the repercussions of, and implications associated with the decision. The main  question they examine is whether the decision could potentially restore peace or latently produce additional troubles than is intended, extending instability. The  president’s subsequent speech lends hopes for peace, suggesting that the decision could restore peace in the country, depending on how the underlying grievances are handled during the tenure of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGONU). That is, the value of this decision is predicated upon the extent to which the RTGONU handles the fundamental matters of security, governance, service delivery, and justice, an achievement of which could not be attained absent of measured reforms.

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