Mary Ayen, wife of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit has called on women and community leaders in the country to stand behind the decision of the government to sign for peace.
“Let us stand with the government and our president to provide support needed to implement peace agreement so that the war stops and end the sufferings. This war is evil and it cannot be allowed to continue to claims the lives of our children and husbands”, Ayen said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ayen’s statement comes after her husband President Salva Kiir last month signed a peace agreement brokered by the East African regional bloc IGAD granting Kiir another 30 months in power.
The president had earlier been reluctant to sign such a deal in part because it gave too much power to his rival Riek Machar, who is now entitled to the position of First Vice President. Now, however, Kiir and Machar have ordered their forces to stop fighting.
In another development, Mary Ayen’s secretary, Nyibol Dut Pakak, has commended the people of Warrap for their support for the government and has encouraged them to support implementation of the peace deal.
Pakak revealed that the first lady in her recent visit to Kuacjok town, capital of Warrap state donated 100 bags from her organisation to prisoners, 100 bags to wounded soldiers and over 100 bags of flour to women in Mayen Gumel and another centre in Kuacjok town.
Recently, another group that had favored continuing the war, the Jieng Council of Elders, reversed its position on the IGAD peace agreement, endorsing it belatedly after earlier fiercely criticizing provisions of the agreement and the IGAD mediators themselves.