Peace talks between the South Sudanese government and the holdout opposition National Salvation Front (NAS) are expected to begin next month, a religious leader said.
Addressing the congregation at Emmanuel Cathedral in Yei town on Sunday, the Archbishop of the Episcopal Church in Central Equatoria region, Paul Yugusuk said efforts are in place to ensure that the government and NAS rebels led by General Thomas Cirillo negotiate to end fighting.
In the past months, he said, church leaders held meetings with the country’s top leadership and those from NAS to begin negotiations for the sake of peace and stability in the country.
“We have a role as a church to talk to them. I am happy to tell you that we have gone to places under NAS control and we met their commanders and we talked to the president as the father and champion of peace to give a chance to the non-signatories to the peace agreement to join the peace by way of negotiations because we are South Sudanese and we have solutions to our own problems,” Yugusuk said.
He added, “We met the leadership of NAS whether in Uganda or Addis Ababa and hopefully next month, we shall start negotiations so that everybody outside there can join the peace agreement.”
Yugusuk noted that the church is committed to include all the non-signatories to the peace deal to embrace peace as the only tool to prepare for elections and lead the country towards prosperity.
“It’s not only one party, there are other parties that did not sign the peace deal, but we are reaching out to all of them. Pray for us because the church has to get into the heart of peace,” the Archbishop said.
“We cannot go on keeping the status quo, things must change, and we need transparency and accountability and we will work together so that we see peace and justice,” he stressed.
In September 2018, President Salva Kiir, opposition leader Riek Machar and a handful of other opposition groups signed a peace deal to end the country’s civil war that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Several armed groups, including those led by former military chief Paul Malong and General Thomas Cirillo are not part of the peace deal.