By: Madrama James
King News, Sept 17th, 2024. The South Sudan Council of Churches has issued a joint statement urging the transitional government to remain committed to their promises during the 2019 spiritual leadership retreat in Rome.
The decision comes amid growing concerns about the extension of the transitional period for the second time while key provisions in the roadmap remained unimplemented
During a press conference held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at church leadership headquarters, including His Eminence Stephen Cardinal Ameyu Martin Mulla, Metropolitan Archbishop of Juba, expressed deep concerns over the delays attributed to lack of political will among the stakeholders.
According to Cardinal Ameyu, the reasons highlighted for the 2024 extension were reasons all stated during the previous extension.
“The Church has been keenly following the implementation of the roadmap, all the reasons highlighted for this extension were all stated during the previous extension, the church realized that, because of lack of political will, all the key important provisions in the roadmap remained unimplemented,” said Ameyu.
The stalled peace initiatives were originally set to be implemented within twenty-four months from 2018 to 2020 as part of a comprehensive agreement aimed at addressing grievances stemming from the South Sudanese political landscape.
However, a series of setbacks and lack of commitment from key parties have pushed back the timeline, risking the momentum gained during earlier discussions in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, South Sudan Spiritual Leaders are urging the political elites and parties to the agreement to stick to their promises of bringing genuine peace across the country.
“Though, there is a need for a political decision to ensure sustainable peace in South Sudan, the political elites and parties to the agreement should stick to their promise. As a church, we urge all the stakeholders to prioritize peace, healing, and reconciliation, and ensure that, the affected people in the flooded areas, refugees, and IDPs, are assisted, including redeeming the current dire economic crisis and paying civil servants and organized forces timely,” Ameyu stressed.
In related development to the church’s appeal, Peter Lam Both, SPLM Secretary General, cited that the National institutions lacked the required money for the implementation of pending tasks , such as elections.
“The institutions of finance were called to come and tell us whether they have the finances necessary for the conduct of the election this year, the answer was they don’t have money for the election. As a matter of fact; they don’t have money even to pay nine months’ salaries. And because of that reason, it became very difficult for us as “SPLAM”- (Sudan People Liberation Movement.) to tell the people that, let us go for election when there’s no money for it. That’s what made us to accept us to accept the eighteen months extensions as a party.”
The church has appreciated and urge the regional, international community and peace partners to continue supporting the people of South Sudan in their pursuit for peace and developments.