By Taban Henry
President Salva Kiir Mayardit has on Thursday reiterated his call to the holdout groups to join hands for creating a complete transition for the country to democracy.
This came on Thursday, when the parties, signatory to the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement disclosed the extension of the Transitional period for more 24 months starting in February 2023.
The transitional period in South Sudan began in February 2020. The Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) was constituted as implementation of the R-ARCSS but since then some key provisions of the 2018 peace pact remained largely unimplemented.
General elections were supposedly scheduled to be held 60 days before the end of the transitional period which is supposed to be in December 2022 yet many prerequisite laws are pending.
The parties recently formed a technical committee tasked to develop a roadmap to get the country out of transition and lead to free and fair elections.
President Kiir in his remarks after the announcement of the transitional period’s extension called on Pagan Amum and Thomas Cirilo to come to Juba to join hands to create a complete transition.
“Comrades Pagan Amum and Thomas Cirilo should come back home and join hands with us in Juba, like some other comrades. We were together in the liberation and while we have differed, we need them to join us now to set history on a correct course,” Kiir said.
President Kiir said him like others, spent their entire lives struggling for the dignity of the South Sudanese people.
“I am calling on two of them, in particular, to come back to South Sudan and collaborate with us in creating conditions for a complete political transition from war to lasting peace,” the President appealed.
“While we deliver this message with heavy hearts, we nevertheless have clear minds. We know this transitional government is not what you deserve but it is better than war. So we extend the transitional period as a pragmatic and realistic choice for 24 months of healing and consolidating peace,” Kiir emphasized.