S. Sudan’s leader promises to neutralise anti-peace elements

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has vowed to neutralise anti-peace elements and end the war across the country. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • He made the declaration on Tuesday while delivering the state of the nation address in Juba.
  • “I would like to re-emphasise, the government takes security very seriously and in order to achieve a goal of making 2017 a year of peace, stabilisation of security situation will take precedent.

Juba. South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has vowed to neutralise anti-peace elements and end the war across the country.

He made the declaration on Tuesday while delivering the state of the nation address in Juba.

“I would like to re-emphasise, the government takes security very seriously and in order to achieve a goal of making 2017 a year of peace, stabilisation of security situation will take precedent.

“The government will pursue peace through the National Dialogue and take extreme measures to neutralise anti-peace elements anywhere in the country,” President Kiir said while referring to top military officers who resigned last week. The president confirmed that some anti-peace elements stirred up insecurity in Malakal town, but government forces neutralised them.

He pointed out that the government was making efforts in Wau and Raga towns to completely pacify them to allow civilians to return to their farms to prepare for the rainy season.

President Kiir admitted that the security situation in the Equatoria region remained precarious due to the increasing road robberies and the activities of anti-peace elements around the Yei River State.

On economy, President Kiir said his government would reverse the downward spiral so as to improve the living standard of the citizens countrywide. “We have assembled a new economic team through recent changes in the Bank of South Sudan and Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

“This team is working harmoniously to coordinate policy actions to put a stop to the free fall of our economy,” he said.

President Kiir said his economic team was working closely with international financial institutions to implement financial reforms as per the peace agreement signed between him and rebel Riek Machar in August 2015.

The current South Sudan war started after a quarrel among top ruling SPLM members turned violent in 2013. The war has caused mass displacement, sparking a humanitarian crisis across the country.

The UN latest figures put South Sudanese who fled their homes to neighbouring countries at 1.5 million people. Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives in the four year civil war. The peace brokered by the regional bloc, the Inter-governmental Authority for Development (Igad) in August 2015, broke after the last July violence. (NMG)