By Gladys Fred Kole
South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit said that the country had reached a critical phase in the consolidation of peace and that there would be no return to war.
In his statement for Martyrs Day Commemoration, Kiir promised to end the country’s continuous transitional government position by holding elections at the end of the transitional period in December 2024.
“The path forward for the country is elections in 2024. I know there are voices that question our resolve to hold elections, but to those voices, I say for the good of our country, we must work to exit from perpetual transitional government status. And elections are the only way out of this,” he added.
The President urged political forces in the country to focus on using the current period provided by the Roadmap to give citizens the power to choose their leaders democratically, next year.
Kiir also recognized the importance of Martyr’s Day and urged everyone to remember the martyrs while reflecting individually and collectively on how to move our country forward.
“On this day, it is incumbent upon us the living to emulate and be guided by the selfless action of our martyrs as we struggle to move the country forward,” Kiir said.
He stressed that citizens must never forget the sacrifices the martyrs made for the country’s freedom and democracy.
July, 30th every year, the country remembers brave South Sudanese who paid the ultimate price for the cause of freedom.
It is the day late Dr. John Garang de Mabior, the revolutionary leader who led the Sudan People’s Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War.
Following the comprehensive Peace Agreement, he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan for only three weeks until his death in a helicopter crash on July 30, 2005.
Dr. John Gerang’s date of death has become Martyr’s Day in South Sudan in remembrance of his efforts in leading the Sudan People’s Liberation Army from 1983 to 2005, a two decades civil war.
He is also regarded as the founding father of South Sudan and a symbol of unity.
The Garang accident occurred near Uganda’s border with South Sudan on Saturday while he was trying to get back to his base from a meeting with Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s President.
The helicopter belonging to the Ugandan government came down, apparently because of a lack of fuel, in bad weather.
All of the people reported to have been on board, were killed. It is said Garang’s death could also expose serious internal “schisms” within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.