JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Tuesday hailed efforts in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement by the parties, but said lack of partnership among the peace partners derails efforts to move the 2018 pact forward.
The head of state made the remarks during the opening session of the 6th South Sudan Governors’ Forum which is being held in Juba under the theme ‘Accelerating the Implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement in Accordance with the Roadmap 2022’.
Kiir said the parties have tried their best since the signing of the agreement in Addis Ababa in 2018 and that those efforts brought new changes and development to the implementation of the agreement, but said lack of partnership undermine efforts to take the agreement further.
“Since we signed the Revitalized Peace Agreement in Khartoum in 2018, we have put concerted efforts to its implementation. These efforts have brought us this far. Despite what we have achieved as parties to the agreement in the last four years, we are also aware of frustrations from our partners over the pace of the Revitalized Peace Agreement implementation,” he said.
“What was missing in this collective desire to see the agreement implemented to the letter spirit was and still is genuine partnership,” he added.
The South Sudanese president expressed happiness with the engagement of the United Nations in light of the extension of the transitional period and said the number one role of the transitional government in the next period would be the reconciliation of the country.
“The roadmap which will be the subject of your discussions in the coming days was solely developed by the parties to the agreement, and it is encouraging to see the United Nations system and other partners joining hands with us in this forum to explore ways of fast-tracking its implementation,” he said.
“The task of reconciling the people, rebuilding destroyed communities and transitioning our people out of conflict cycle need resources. We cannot do these things alone. We need our partners to support us,” added the president.
“The discussions you will be holding in the next few days will certainly touch on the difficult topic on how to fast-track the implementation of the roadmap 2022. My hope is that your deliberations will be beneficial to the process of putting our country permanently to the path of peace.”