Remarks by President Arap Moi during the Launching of the Dinka and Nuer Elders Consultative Meeting in Nairobi
3 min readRemarks by His Excellency Daniel T. Arap Moi, C.G.H during the Launching of the Dinka and Nuer Elders Consultative Meeting in Nairobi on the 3rd of June, 2015
June 7, 2015 (SSB) — Fellow elders, I welcome all of you to my home this morning and to thank you for accepting my invitation. This occasion has arisen from my concerns over the fighting in your country that has gone over the last year. I have followed closely all the developments in your country and I am concerned about the senseless loss of innocent lives of your people.
South Sudan has been so close to my heart for many years. It gave me a great relief when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in January 2005. But I must say how deeply disappointed I am to see another war in your young country.
You have squandered the opportunity to building a prosperous nation for your people who have borne many years of war and bloodshed. I need not stress the obvious that peace, security and stability is paramount for the development in any country. You had fought for many years to attain this very status.
Unfortunately, this peace has been disrupted by the new fighting which despite IGAD efforts, have not borne any fruits so far.
My dear friends, I have a few questions to ask: Are your leaders not seeing the destruction the war is causing in your young nation? Is there none of the South Sudanese leaders brave enough to put down their ambitions for the power for the sake of the nation?
What are the elders from all sides advising the South Sudan leadership or have you taken sides? In our African context, elders are the pillars of any society and we believe that where there are elders things do not go wrong.
The future generations will judge you harshly if you let your country to collapse because of your own failures to maintain peace. You cannot run away from the responsibility of making peace and promoting national integration.
The responsibilities to build peace are not exclusively to the government on its own. Your role must complement that of the government and your leadership in your respective communities should be exemplary.
It is in this context that I have called you so as to explore ways in which you can contribute towards peace. You can do this by:
a) Forging a joint platform which you speak with a common voice of peace for your country;
b) Urging your leaders to pursue the way of dialogue instead of fighting;
c) Establishing what are the root causes of the conflict and how they can be addressed;
d) Mobilizing your respective communities to support peace and not war; and,
e) Initiating a process of healing and reconciliation for your own divided communities.
Mine shall be to facilitate you in achieving these objectives and any that you may not consider critical. It may be necessary for you to incorporate elders from other South Sudanese Communities especially from the Equatoria region to ensure an all-inclusive process.
I wish you fruitful deliberations and God’s blessings.
Thank you
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