South Sudan Governors Forum Commences in Juba with Calls for Peace

November 22, 2022 (JUBA) – The 6th Governors’ Forum officially kicked off in the South Sudanese capital, Juba on Tuesday with calls for peace and stability in the country.

Speaking during the opening of the event on Tuesday at the Freedom Hall in Juba, President Salva Kiir urged the governors to focus on importance of peace in the country.

“My hope is that your deliberations will be beneficial to the process of putting our country permanently on the path of peace,” he remarked.

South Sudan’s Vice President and Chairperson of Service Clusters, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol has hailed the improved ties with neighbouring Sudan.

“Our relations with Sudan over the past years have been remarkably encouraging. People have been moving between the two countries with ease. People are going and from Sudan are coming. There is a cross-border movement. Goods and services are being exchanged freely. Issues that come up here and there get addressed instantly,” said Akol.

The Northern Bahr el Ghazal State governor, Tong Akeen Ngor described as developmental the relations that the two countries have witnessed over the past years.

“People are coming in from Sudan, people are going out to Sudan from here [South Sudan]. They are moving freely. I have direct contact with my colleagues from Darfur and Kordofan. County commissioners are also in contact. We have directed them to cooperate and follow the national trend and model their relations on the basis of the national relations between the two countries. This is good for the two countries. It is good for the citizens,” Ngor told the forum.

He added, “Our relations should be based on mutual understanding and cooperation to enhance trade and movement of the people with their properties”.

For his part, Unity State governor Joseph Nguen Monytuil described relations with Sudan as proof of the African proverb that brotherly relations are the mother of happiness and harmony between the two people under a different administration.

“This is a positive sign and this is also proof that we can find African solutions for African problems,” Monytuil explained.

“The relations we have now established with Sudan were not mediated by foreign countries. It was never negotiated by us. We just relied and built on the already existing relations bonded by history, cultures, and relations from our grandfathers and now it is working well,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom said the forum will boost the implementation of the 2022 roadmap.

“I’m deeply honored to address the commencement of the 6th governors’ forum which recognizes the urgency of implementing the 2022 roadmap. This is an opportunity to reflect on South Sudan’s recommitment to the revitalized peace agreement,” he said.

The forum is being attended by the 10 state governors and heads of the three administrative areas.

(ST)