Civilians and members of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) have been urged to coexist in peace in Kajo Keji County of Central Equatoria State.
Paul Pitia Yugusuk, the Archbishop for Central Equatoria Internal Province for the Episcopal Church of South Sudan said during the closing of the civil-military dialogue on Tuesday.
“The civilians and the army were in good relation in the past, there was nothing difficult. We need to identify issues and find ways of addressing them,” Yugusuk said.
Over 100 people including youth, women and armed forces attended the dialogue aimed at building trust and confidence through reconciliation.
Evans Paren Amos, the representative of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), said the relationship between the civilians and the security forces is very important.
“We are all South Sudanese; we need to find a way to be together. The poor civil-military relation does not only target the army (SSPDF), but even other opposition forces, we have to push for peace and resolve our problems in Kajo-Keji to enjoy dividends of peace,” Amos said.
Phanuel Dumo, the Commissioner for Kajo-keji County said civilians and the military need to work closely together to move the country forward, adding that the relationship between the civilians and the army had been cordial during the liberation days.
“During the liberation days, civilians and military were having good relation as civilians provided water to the armed fighters. We have to cooperate and support each other and also find better solution to existing problems for this country to move forward,” Dumo said.
“There are very few wrong elements, let us give peace a chance. There is no country without civilians and there is no country without the army, we have to engage in reconciliation in order to find better solutions,” he added.
