Independence Day will unite South Sudan like never before, Pres Kiir

Independence Day will unite South Sudan like never before, Pres Kiir

South Sudan will celebrate her 11th birthday in the most peaceful manner than never witnessed before.

These were the words of President Salva Kiir to a section of citizens who braved the a chilly Thursday follow a Holy Eucharistic Celebrations at Dr John Garang Mausoleum; and in the presence of  Pope Francis representative, Pietro Parolin.

Also present were First Vice President Dr Riek Machar, Vice Presidents Taban Deng Gai and Hussein Abdelbagi Akol.

Parolin, who is also the Vatican Secretary of State, conducted the mass.

Pietro was sent to South Sudan by Pope Francis to deliver a message of hope and peace during a two-day official visit that ended today, July 7.

On July 8, 2016, that ironically, also fell on a Friday – just like this year, South Sudan’s unity was stretched to its limit when war broke out at the State House. After that, the two protagonists – Kiir and Riak Machar made compromises by agreeing to work together, for the “sake of peace”.

President Kiir admitted that even though he has reservations about the new political set-up that saw Machar appointed as first of the five vice presidents.

“That (having five vice presidents) is not found in any place in the region, and will not be necessary,” President Kiir told the Pope’s representative Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Kiir argued that a bloated executive took some power off his seat and thus making it difficult for the President to make critical decisions, some that do not necessarily require a lot of consultation.

But despite having his reservations on the new power arrangement, president Kiir said that he will never allow that country to return back to the old days.

Starting this Saturday, July 9, the President assured that he will rally all South Sudanese to the path of unity as the country turns the 11th calendar since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

“We will celebrate it harmoniously,” said the Commander- in-Chief.

“We will have time to talk again. We are going to celebrate the independence of our country. We must come together to celebrate our independence,” affirmed President Kiir.

The head of state further appealed to South Sudanese to shun political and tribal intolerance.

“In South Sudan, we don’t have religious differences. You find that Christians and Muslims exist in harmony. We don’t have any religious differences in South Sudan. We only want our country to be at peace,” said the President.

There were diminishing hopes that the 2022 Independence Day fete would not take place, going by an earlier communique by Michael Makuei, Minister for Information Communication Technology and Postal Services.

Makue had said there were no funds to mark the day, adding that the little resources available would be channeled towards the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“After thorough deliberation, the cabinet found out that yes, there is a need for us to celebrate, but the celebration will be of a different type. We have so many issues at hand that we need to address and making that big celebration means a lot of expenses.

“This is what we have decided to avoid incurring more expenses  when we are saving the little money that we have for the graduation of forces and the implementation of the agreement,” Makuei told the press last week.

The President, however, confirmed that the day will be honored – in the most peaceful way.

“I don’t want to say much because I will return here on Independence Day,” President Kiir told citizens who attended the mass at Dr John Garang Mausoleum at Custom.

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