South Sudan president reveals why he offered to mediate for Sudanese parties

JUBA – South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, revealed during the signing ceremony of the Sudanese peace agreement in Juba last week that he offered to mediate between the Sudanese parties given what he said is a shared nationality between his country’s citizens and those of Sudan.

Last week, the ruling Sudan coalition government signed a landmark peace agreement with around five opposition groups, paving way for possible end of the civil war in Darfur and some parts of the country’s southern region.

However, two key opposition factions, the SPLM-North led by Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hillu and SLM/A led by renegade General Abdel Wahid Nur, have chosen to stay out of the agreement unless deputy chair of Sudan’s Sovereign Council General Mohamed Haman Daglo is removed as head of the government mediation.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Kiir who offered to mediate in 2019 said he did so because the people in his country and those in Sudan share common nationality and  are generally referred to as Sudanese.

“We are all Sudanese people, whether you go to western countries, eastern world, Africa or even to Arab world, they will still called us Sudanese,” Kiir said.

“Therefore, I took my moral responsibility towards the Sudanese people by initiating and spearheading this home-made peace talks because we have a shared nationality,” said the South Sudanese leader who has been praised for bringing the Sudanese parties together.