The Vice President of South Sudan James Wani Igga has called on South Sudanese elites to drop their reservations and support the signed peace agreement. Igga said many people are not aware of the benefits of the agreement but rather only criticize a few points.
Igga was speaking on Thursday as guest of honor on the occasion of the launching of a work permit ‘smart card’ for foreigners by the Ministry of Labour and Public Service.
He said the reservations were “good for records purpose, for our history,” but should not stop implementation of the agreement.
The vice president criticized his own government for not disseminating the agreement enough to the South Sudanese people, which he sees as a danger for the future. Igga reiterated that the agreement needs people to read it and then after that take it upon to themselves to disseminate.
“We are not disseminating this agreement enough. And that is a danger. I know that because of our own reservation, we also have these reservations, we must have peace,” he said.
Igga contended that there is a lot for the country to gain in adhering to the new IGAD agreement, “because we have shed a lot of blood, our people have suffered more than necessary, they need breathing space. It is time for our people need development, they need service, improvement of their standard for living.”
“Ladies and gentleman, especially we the politicians here because if we have divided over this agreement because of different interpretation or because of different personal interests, then finish, we will fail to coexist,” Igga said.
“Please whatever your reservations let those be the reservations that we have all committed to upon for records purposed but the holistic results should be that, we support the agreement,” he added.
“I think, we, it is our duty to disseminate the right information to people, so that history doesn’t judge us nasty if we fail to become a viable country in our time and our names are all there, whatever your status is there and each of us are going to be accountable and going to leave legacy.”
Igga continued, “A dirty legacy will lead to you being cursed to your coming generations that you’re the cause of their misery because they will suffer more than you because you failed to govern for them now and the future.”
Meeting with East African leader
The vice president also disclosed in his remarks that he visited one of the East African countries recently before Kiir signed the peace deal, revealing that he was advised by the head of state of that country on the importance and the benefit of this peace agreement.
He was likely referring to Uganda, where earlier it was reported that he had visited.
Igga said he was asked while in the meeting about the economic situation in South Sudan. The leader of the unnamed East African country reportedly told Igga that pro-government demonstrators who were organized by the government to protest against the IGAD peace proposal last month would soon turn against them if they failed to bring peace.
“These same people who are actually demonstrating against this proposal in the streets, tomorrow will turn demonstrating against the government when they go hungry, they will turn against the government.”
“He said in any agreement, it is the principle of give and take. There is no agreement that is 100 percent. So you have to stomach some of the things for the sake of peace and coexistence of South Sudanese,” Igga said he was told by the head of the state, whom he refused to name.