President Kiir’s Speech on the Search for Peace in South Sudan
SPEECH OF PRESIDENT SALVA KIIR MAYARDIT DURING THE LAUCH OF THE “NATIONAL PLATFORM FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION”
May 5th, 2014
Allow me this afternoon to greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Indeed it was a great pleasure, your lordships, to be informed that our institutions mandated for peace building in our Country; The Peace and Reconciliation Commission under the leadership of Hon. Chuol Rambang, the Committee for National Healing under His Grace Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, and the Specialized Parliamentary Commit-tee for Peace and Reconciliation under General David Okwier, have taken up the critical challenge of Dialogue, Reconciliation and peace which over time will lead to National Healing.
My government and I believe that many of you have acquired useful skills in Conflict Resolution and Peace Building, and are ready to be in-house Peace Makers for our People and Country. It was therefore good news for us in government and for my office in particular that the leadership of the three has taken the initiative by themselves to form this Platform. So today it is my privilege as Head of Government to launch the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation, an initiative taken voluntarily by the three in-institutions. This Platform will give our people the opportunity to have their voices heard.
After the unexpected event that struck our Country on that infamous day of the 15th of December 2013, Peace and reconciliation is needed in our country now more than ever. It has become one of the high priority areas of my government. Therefore, we welcome this initiative wholeheartedly. We all know that our country is facing tremendous challenges especially as we are fighting among ourselves.
Politically we have opened negotiations in Addis and with the help of our IGAD neighbors we are in dialogue with those who oppose us. We will continue to do so and we are committed to finding a solution through dialogue. However, whatever solution we find as leaders must be accepted and supported by our people. Otherwise it will fall apart very quickly.
For people to support agreements they need to understand what is hap-pening in the political negotiations. Equally the leadership must hear the people and take into account their thinking, their aspirations and their con-cerns. This is where the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation, which we are launching today become very important Platform.
My office have been inundated with requests from many stakeholders and International Partners for different organizations to join the peace talks in Addis to assist and make inputs into the negotiations. As a government we welcome the inputs from this wide range of actors. It shows people are concerned and want to help us. However, we also can see how too many groups can disrupt the sensitive nature of the negotiations and how some have even taken sides something which is not helpful.
The creation of the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation offers a broad base for inclusive participation of all citizens and we welcome the ini-tiative by the nationally mandated institutions. Given the nature and lead-ership of the institutions we see the potential for them to reach out to a wide range of constituencies, not only in Juba and those areas, which are easily accessible, but also to all counties, bomas and payams of our Country. It is important that all the people participate in this endeavour. I, there-fore, urge the people from all sectors to work closely with the institutions that have united and created The National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation.
I want to stress that the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation is independent from government. My government was informed and extensive discussions were conducted by my Minister for Cabinet Affairs. For us as government we see the Platform working most effectively if it works in-dependently, inclusive and with wide support across the political spectrum and with all the various communities and layers of society, including women and youth.
My government, therefore, calls upon and encourages all other political stakeholders as well as civil society and the international community and the whole of the UN system to work with the Platform. When we work for peace and reconciliation we must work in unity and we must support each other. The Platform offers a base to all South Sudanese to express them-selves and to let their voices be heard. As political leaders, we must hear the voices of our people. We can take lead but we cannot solve the prob-lems of the country by ourselves without their input.
South Sudan fought a war and many of our comrades sacrificed their lives and their families to achieve the victory that has given us our independence. We hope that peace is not the first victim of our independence. In fact our struggle will be hollow if we don’t find ways to reconcile with each other and work together for the future of our country as brothers and sisters. We will never be free as people if we continue to fight each other. Our future needs all of us as political leaders and people of South Sudan.
Africa is on the rise. We see it all around us. South Sudan does not want to stay behind and be the concern and worry for our neighbors and the inter-national community. South Sudan wants to be at the forefront, leading at many fronts and let the people enjoy the fruits of our liberation. For that we need Dialogue, Reconciliation, peace and Healing with each other.
As President I want to thank the leadership of the three institutions who came together and show unity when many divisions were opening up. The National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation shows that we have the leadership and wisdom as people of South Sudan to solve our own problems. I wish you the best in this most crucial area of work. You have the blessing and support of my government and from me as President. With these remarks, I launch and declare the deliberations of the National Plat-form for Peace and Reconciliation open.
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