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Address To The Dialogue
Conference of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/ Army (SPLM/A) and
Other Armed Groups (OAGS) By H E Lt General Salva Kiir Mayardit, The First Vice President Of The Republic and The President of The Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) Juba, 6th – 7th January 2006. Mr. Chairman, Moi Africa Institute (MAIN) Major General Paulino Matip Nhial, Chief of Staff of Southern Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF); Hon, Ministers of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), Members of Delegations of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/ Army (SPLM/A) and SSDF; Members of the Secretariat of Moi Africa Institute (MAIN) Members of the Diplomatic Corps; Distinguished Invited guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Before I proceed with my opening remarks, may I request you to stand up to observe a one minute of silence to remember, pay tribute and salute the memory and honour of our fallen leader Dr. John Garang de Mabior and all our martyrs who have fallen in the struggle for our dignity before and after independence. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to this important meeting and to extend my thanks to the representatives of Moi Africa Institute (MAIN) for coming to Juba, Southern Sudan to facilitate the Third (3rd) and final Meeting in the series of dialogue among ourselves we the Southern Sudanese. This conference is important because it is taking place in Southern Sudan at a time when we are about to commemorate the first anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Fellow Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, as I have hinted above, this meeting is a continuation of the previous South – South Dialogue Conferences that were held between the SPLM and other Southern Sudanese political and military groups. The first of those meetings was held in Mbagathi, Kenya from 18th – 21st April ,2005 between the SPLM and other political parties/groups where at the end of the meeting 24 representatives of different parties/groups appended their signatures to a ‘Covenant of the People of the Southern Sudan’ in which they called for unity and reconciliation among the people of Southern Sudan among other things. The second meeting took place in Karen, Nairobi, from 29th June – 30th July 2005 between the SPLA and the Southern Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) representing all Other Armed groups (OAGs). This current third meeting is taking place here in Juba again between the SPLA and the OAGs as the final lap of the South – South Dialogue. I am confident that it will reach its logical and successful conclusion in as long as it is guided by the letter and spirit of the CPA; specifically the Security Arrangement and the Ceasefire Protocols to which we are committed. Fellow Compatriots, all those meetings and the present one are meant to address very important issues that are vital for our survival as the people of Southern Sudan namely; our unity, reconciliation and forgiveness, successful implementation of the CPA, democracy, rule of law and good governance, as well as the construction of post conflict Southern Sudan among others. In this regard, I would like to assure you that the SPLM, the SPLM led Government of Southern Sudan and myself are fully committed to dialogue with all groups and individuals in our society no matter what differences there were between us to address the above objectives. Indeed, since the inception of the SPLM/A in 1983, other compatriots and myself who founded the Movement had always never hesitated to reach out to others in a spirit of dialogue and reconciliation for the unity of our people. It has therefore, been a long standing policy of the SPLM/A to promote dialogue as a means of resolving problems. Most of those who participated in the previous reconciliation efforts dating back to the 1980s starting with Anyanya-2 are here. These efforts had continued even after the split of the SPLM/A in 1991, and by 2003 this process of dialogue, peace and reconciliation was nearly complete when the SPLM/A merged with SPDF, EDF and SPLM/A United and which merger consequently led to our strength; as a result of which the CPA was achieved. Ladies and Gentlemen, in order, to make the process complete and to enhance the implementation of the CPA, it is important that all of us make efforts to make this meeting a success and the final one. I want to assure you that all the groups which have merged with the SPLM/ A as a result of dialogue, have the same and equal rights as members of the SPLM/A whom they found in the movement. They equally participated in military command, political affairs, peace negotiations and now at all levels of government both in the Government of National Unity (GONU) and the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS). The same rights and duties are being accorded to the OAGs. In fact my government has already offered Legislative and Executive positions to members of OAGs at the level of GOSS and State Governments in the South from the share of the SPLM. Specifically, we have offered to the OAGs the following positions from the share of the SPLM: one State Governor, one Deputy Governor, six State Ministers, four County Commissioners one member in the National Assembly, three members in the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and twenty members in the State Assemblies. In addition to that, I am happy to note that there is presently good cooperation between myself and the Leadership of SSDF in maintaining our unity, Peace and security in Southern Sudan. These are some of the objectives of the South- South dialogue process that we are concluding in this meeting Finally, I would like to appeal to all of us here that as the first anniversary of the CPA approaches, we should complete the merger and integration between the SPLA and the OAGs, where I am now assuring all concerned that the members of OAGs will be integrated into the SPLA ranks and file without discrimination including the positions in other organised forces and the civil service. This will truly not only be a Christmas and a New Year gift to people of Southern Sudan, but a major step in re-directing our energies as a united people towards a peaceful, prosperous and tolerant society. We must not fail in this historic responsibility. Thank you all for Listening |
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