South Sudan: President Salva Kiir Signs Peace Deal

By Staff Writer

JUBA---The lives of hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese nationals are set to change for the better after the Nations President Salva Kiir signed a peace deal with the rebels on Wednesday in Juba in a ceremony attended by a number of African regional leaders.

The signing of the peace deal comes more than a week after he refused to do so saying that he needed more time to review the agreement. The prime minister turned rebel leader Riek Machar had signed the deal on the same day and it was entirely up to Kiir to sign.

This comes as a relief as the violence that has rocked the world youngest country for over one year and eight months could come to an end and see the country focus on development and reconciliation. This is however unlikely as some of the rebel leaders have broken ties with Riek and have said the peace deal will not end the violence.

The ethnic nature of the violence has alarmed the international community and the United Nations Security Council had said they would take immediate action if the President had not signed the deal yesterday.

In a report released to the public on Tuesday by a UN council of experts, it said that both sides in the conflict between government forces and rebels targeted civilians. The violence which started in 2013 after the then prime minister Riek Machar broke from the government and became the rebel leader has seen over 60,000 people flee the country, thousands dead and over 1.6million others left homeless.

In an exclusive interview with Aljazeera on Wednesday, the rebel leader Machar said that the agreement includes several reforms, including the reconstitution of the army, security forces and the police."There were reasons for the war, and this peace agreement addresses these reasons," said Machar. "We hope nobody creates war again in South Sudan."

The presidents of Kenya and Uganda and the prime minister of Ethiopia who also acted as mediators in the peace talks were present at the signing. The south Sudan president asked the regional leaders to stand with them in implementation of the peace agreement because according to him, if left to them, they would spoil it.

It is however evident that pressure from neighboring governments and the broader international community was instrumental in convincing Kiir to sign the deal after missing the 17 August deadline. The same positive pressure can be used to ensure long lasting peace in the country.