A former South Sudan’s army chief Gen. James Hoth Mai warned that the country could collapse unless its parties that are in conflict reach a compromise at the peace negotiations.
According Mai, the young nation’s criminal justice system is not yet in a position to easily handle the backlog of trials that have accumulated amid the war.
Mai has therefore pleaded with the people of South Sudan to first of all forgive each other, a process that will set foot for the talks.
The talks which are supposed to bridge the gap between the warring parties in South Sudan have in the recent past proved to be trapped in a semi-permanent coma, with no agreement or solution being reached upon to bring peace in the country that is experiencing mass killings and displacement of its citizens.
The talks were especially hamper
ed last month when South Sudan parliament voted to extend President Salva Kiir’s rule for three more years, after elections due to be held in June were called off.
The war between supporters of Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar erupted in the world’s newest nation in December 2013.
Kiir and Machar had agreed February on the outlines of a power-sharing deal, and they had hoped to reach a final accord by the end of March.
But with Kiir receiving immense support to extend his presidential term, talks with Machar appear stalled, and fighting continues.
South Sudan has experienced some of the world’s deadly wars where thousands of people have been killed and more than a million have fled their homes.
Gen. James Hoth Mai has said that the only way that the people of South Sudan can heal the hatred that that has erupted from the killings is by forgiving each other and perpetrators of the wickedness.
