Hichilema Calls for Peace and Unity in South Sudan

President Hakainde Hichilema has urged his South Sudanese counterpart, President Salva Kiir, to put the interests of his citizens first and establish peace in the East African country.

Speaking at the High-Level Mediation Summit in Nairobi on Thursday, Hichilema said, “we on the Southern-African part of the Continent follow these processes, and we’re looking forward to cessation of hostilities in the wider Sudan, once independence is gained.”

The last decade in South Sudan has been dominated by violent conflict. Its civil war was declared “over” in 2020, however sub-national violence continued between the government and rebel opposition groups that were not part of the 2018 peace agreement that had ended the civil war, leaving 400,000 people dead.

He continued, “We budgeted for peace, security, stability for development…how we utilise the resources must not be towards waging war, but towards building schools, health centres.”

During the Summit, Hichilema took part in a number of talks, including on food security.

On the same day, at the Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi, Hichilema emphasised the need to make fertiliser both widely available and affordable for African farmers across the Continent. This would constitute a core yet crucial step towards achieving food security and increasing agricultural production levels drastically. Underpinning this, Hichilema also signalled the benefit of intra-African trading, building reliable exportation of goods and services between African nations rather than becoming drawn into conflicts.

Peace and security in South Sudan is therefore key to facilitating development in a united Africa, which was endorsed by Salva Kiir who said his government would negotiate with the opposition groups in good faith and with an “open mind.”

Kenyan President D. William Ruto echoed the words of Hichilema calling for unity and peace across African nations. He said, “This initiative exemplifies the Pan-African policy of African solutions to African challenges…fostering an environment for transformational development in South Sudan, our region, and the entire African continent.”