World Council of Churches (WCC)
Source: World Council of Churches (WCC) |

South Sudanese churches welcome top leader’s agreement, but warn conflict has expanded

President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, the main opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) leader, signed the declaration agreement in Khartoum on 27 June

The intention and the will is positive. Our hope and prayer is they will implement what they have signed

JUBA, South Sudan, June 28, 2018/APO Group/ --

South Sudanese churches have welcomed the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement by the main rivals, while cautioning that many other such pacts had also been dishonoured.

President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, the main opposition SPLM-IO leader, signed the declaration agreement in Khartoum on 27 June, raising hope for an end of the conflict, which ignited in 2013 as a political dispute between the two leaders.

“The intention and the will is positive. Our hope and prayer is they will implement what they have signed. There are a lot of agreements that have been signed, but not implemented,” said Fr James Oyet Latansio, the general secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) in a telephone interview.

“They have stopped the shooting of the guns. This is what we have been asking for. They must also stop all kinds of confrontations.”

Edmund Yakani, CEO of the Civil Empowerment for Progress Organization, agreed.

“The culture of signing an agreement today and violating tomorrow should stop immediately,” he said.

The ceasefire starts on 30 June in the world’s newest nation which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and where four years of civil war have left the government bankrupt.

By 2016, inflation reached 500 percent. The conflict has affected all sectors, as it also severely affected agricultural production resulting into a serious food crisis. In 2017, famine affected at least 100,000 people and this year, seven million will need food aid, according to the UN.

Churches leaders say they welcome the talks and any agreement, but caution the conflict had moved beyond two personalities, with many new groups and actors getting involved.

“A political agreement between two leaders will not resolve the conflict without addressing the root causes. We reiterate our offer to convene Neutral Forum dialogues based on our Statement of Intent of June 2015,” the church leaders noted at a meeting with the UN.

Churches have repeatedly pushed for the downing of arms and humanitarian access. The faith groups have continued to offer relief aid and pastoral care to communities affected by the war.

Amid the death of thousands, at least two million have fled as refugees from neighbouring countries and over four million are internally displaced.

Some of the ceasefire arrangements which are set to start include disengagement, separation of forces in close proximity, withdrawal of allied troops, opening of humanitarian corridors and release of prisoners of war and political detainees.

“The security arrangements that shall be adopted shall aim at building a national army, police and other security agencies of an all-inclusive character that shall be free from tribalism and ethnic affiliation,” says the document, also co-signed by different opposition parties.

Some other key highlights include disarming of civilians, the intensification basic services provision and improving infrastructure destroyed the war. The parties will also work to rehabilitate oilfields for resumption and restoration of production to previous levels.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Council of Churches (WCC).