Kiir urges opposition groups to silence guns this year  

South Sudan president, Salva Kiir Mayardit (Photo via Getty Images)

JUBA – South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit is calling on the holdout groups of South Sudan Opposition Alliance to join hands with the unity government to silence guns in the country.

In his new year’s message, President Kiir reiterated his government readiness to make the 2018 revitalized peace agreement inclusive.

“While work on the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, we are also engaging Holdout groups through Rome process to make the quest for peace in our country inclusive. These talks are now progressing under the guidance of Sant’Egidio community and I would like to appeal to my brothers and sisters in South Sudan Opposition Alliance to see this as opportunity to silence guns in our country,” Kiir urged.

“Let us all work to silence guns in 2021. This will allow us to focus on directing our resources to national development priorities such as service provision to our people,” he added.

The head of state believed that the 2018 peace deal is the only hope to restore stability in the world’s youngest nation.

“I would like to congratulate the parties and urge them to use this momentum to quicken the pace of the implementation of the remaining chapters of the agreement. This is because the revitalized peace agreement is a framework for returning our country to permanent stability and we have no choice other than to implement it faithfully,” he said.

President Kiir refuted the claimed that the parties lack political will to implement the agreement, saying the agreement does not cater for everything.

“I am aware that the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement is moving slowly. This slow progress is not due to lack of political will from the parties, it is comes from the fact that the agreement itself does cater for everything. This requires the parties to work out these areas through dialogue,” he said.