South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Aluong Maker Aluong
The Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, yesterday called on political leaders to keep their promise of not returning the country back to war amid the ongoing political tension.
In a statement issued in Juba, Yakani urged political leaders to restore peace in States experiencing violence.
“We are tightening our nut to let at least the prevalence of peace in this country. It is through the existence of peace that will of course, allow citizens of this beautiful nation to perform what is expected of them,” he said.
Yakani advised South Sudanese citizens to embrace peace in order to foster human growth, development, and societal growth in the country.
“We have individuals who are holding the power of decision-making that seem not to be following the same direction that we are following, which is the vision of our independence,” he said.
Yakani also stressed the need to hold political leaders accountable for any violations of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
“Perhaps, their (political) competition is to satisfy their own interests instead of the interests of all the citizens of the nation. With this, civil society has come up with the initiative of citizens talking for peace, and this will pave the way for citizens to demand political leaders with political accountability,” he said.
He disclosed that the initiative dubbed “Citizens Talk for Peace” is already bringing all South Sudanese together from diverse ethnic groups to discuss ways to foster peace in the country.
“This is within our framework of the campaign, which was already launched, called No Return to War,” said Yakani.
In addition, he further urged South Sudanese to take unwavering steps toward realizing peace and stability in the country.
“This initiative doesn’t demand violence but rather dialogue as an option. It doesn’t also focus on political power sharing, but rather demands of us to put guns down and seek peace, which of course will bring an immense solution for the various problems being faced by the citizens of this nation,” said Yakani.
