Museveni Challenges S.Sudan Leadership to Embrace Dialogue, Hold Elections

President Yoweri Museveni has asked the leadership of South Sudan to desist from warring against each other and resolve their differences through dialogue. Museveni said that there is no problem that should pit people from the same country against each other as though they were enemies.

He was addressing the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) National Liberation Council Meeting on Thursday at the Freedom Hall in Juba.

“My appeal to the leaders of SPLM is to drop violence as a means of conflict resolution. Force should be reserved for the enemy. A disagreement among brothers should not be resolved through force,” the President said.

South Sudan has been at war since 2013 when fresh fighting broke out between President Salvar Kiir and loyalists to his deputy, Dr Riek Machar. The civil conflict has left millions of South Sudanese internally displaced and thousands of others fleeing the country for refuge.

Various peace deals have been signed and then broken, most recently in December. Every time, each side accuses the other of responsibility for the breakdown and unrelenting violence.

Museveni urged the two conflicting sides to explore peaceful options and let force be the last resort. Like several actors in the international community including the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gueterres have previously appealed, President Museveni called for an end to the war and for differences to be solved through an election.

“Whatever the political differences, South Sudan leaders should embrace dialogue and work towards having national elections,” Museveni said.

He added; “If there is mismanagement, work for peace then prepare for elections. You then resolve everything through the vote. Use the ballot to punish those who have misbehaved”.

He implored President Kiir and his ruling SPLM party to choose the ideology of nationalism over politics of identity.

He also lashed out at critics who have been against the intervention of Uganda in the crisis in South Sudan saying that as a neighbor, Uganda can not keep away when things are going wrong. Currently, Uganda hosts over 1.4 million refugees and over 70% of these are from South Sudan.

Museveni hailed the South Sudanese President for inviting him to play the role of mediating in the conflict.