By Bida Elly David
As South Sudan celebrates its 12th independence Anniversary, the President has reiterated his commitment to peace agreement, stating, it is the only ticket for conducting democratic elections.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit offered in his Independence anniversary message to the citizens under the theme, “consolidating peace and stability to pave ways for transparent, fair and credible elections.”
He said peace and stability are the only elements that will guarantee the return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes.
“We need stability in order to allow our people to voluntarily return home from refugee and IDP camps, to allow our people to reconcile and for the government to be able to hold credible elections, Kiir said.
The Country has encountered and continues to encounter numerous challenges in the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict (R-ARCSS).
“I would like to thank you for enduring the challenges resulting from the senseless war we fought from 2013-2018. The impact of this war is still in us,” he said.
The war delayed government reforms and induced economic difficulties while thousands of citizens fled to camps in neighboring countries as refugees though many returned back.
“Fortunately for us, none of these challenges affected our intentions to implement the agreement. Each time we faced hurdles, we have managed to resolve them peacefully through dialogue,” he said.
He said that despite the loopholes, his government through the roadmap aims to end state suffering by availing necessary resources to support the implementation of key provisions within the agreement.
“In 2022-2023, we allocated 15 billion South Sudanese pounds to peace implementation. This year, however, we have increased the allocation of funds to support peace implementation to 50 billion SSP in 2023-2024 budget,’’ Kiir said.
He said that having peace and stability is the only route to transition South Sudan from the circumference of bloodshed to forgiveness.
“Achieving peace and stability is the only way that will allow us to exit from the circle of transitional government and violence once and for all,’’ Kiir stated.
The Head of the state called on South Sudanese and leaders to work jointly with peace partners and government officials to attain peace to the young nation.
However, Kiir thanked the peace partners for having contributed tirelessly towards the implementation of the peace agreement.
“Let us continue with this spirit in the coming months as we work to accelerate the implementation of the remaining critical provisions in the roadmap. I want to sincerely thank our peace partners for remaining focused on the implementation of the agreement through the roadmap,’’ he said.
He congratulated citizens on the occasion of the 12th Anniversary of Independence and wished them the best as they peacefully celebrate the holidays and promised not to send the Country back to war.