{"id":41398,"date":"2025-11-24T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T14:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=41398"},"modified":"2025-11-24T16:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T14:04:09","slug":"dr-lam-calls-for-honesty-in-implementation-of-peace-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/dr-lam-calls-for-honesty-in-implementation-of-peace-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Lam calls for honesty in implementation of peace agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lodu William Odiya\/Alan Clement <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Chairperson of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), Dr. Lam Akol, urged South Sudanese and leaders in particular to be honest in the implementation of the peace agreement.<\/p>\n

He expressed that people should acknowledge the failures of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and develop ways to go forward.<\/p>\n

The remark came yesterday during stakeholder\u2019s dialogue as he cautioned that repeated postponements of elections and prolonged transitional governance risked repeating past mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us be honest with ourselves. R-ARCSS was supposed not only to resolve the war\u2019s consequences but also to create trust, confidence, and collegial action among the parties. Eight years later, are the parties more confident? Are they working together as expected? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Akol said<\/p>\n

\u201cIf God gives us a longer life, you may come here in 2027 to talk about how elections should be conducted in 2028,\u201d he added,<\/p>\n

He underscored the urgency of inclusive dialogue involving all South Sudanese.<\/p>\n

Leaders, citizens, and youth demanded honesty, unity, and decisive action to end cycles of conflict and stalled governance.<\/p>\n

On her part, Mary Apayi, 2nd<\/sup> Deputy Chairperson of the SPLM, echoed the frustration of citizens weary of endless transitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are tired of transition over transition. People want democracy; they want to select their leaders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Apayi stressed that political differences must never overshadow South Sudanese identity, calling for completion of the peace agreement, civic education, and a permanent constitution as foundations for sustainable democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeacebuilding is a shared responsibility and must be locally owned. We need to put our country first,\u201d she emphasized.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Dr. Angelina Bazugba, Director National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) shifted focus to the economic dimension of recovery. She highlighted the paradox of South Sudan\u2019s abundant resources remaining underutilized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are importing milk, beef, and fish from Uganda despite having 30 million cattle. The resources we have are not yet economic resources,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bazugba argued that transforming natural wealth into economic assets is key to empowerment, particularly for women and youth.<\/p>\n

She urged investment in infrastructure, reliable energy, health services, and market access to enable citizens to actively contribute to development.<\/p>\n

Providing historical perspective, Professor Adwok Nyaba reflected on decades of conflict and missed opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war was fought without clear ideas of what we wanted to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we must ask ourselves where we went wrong and how to restore the social capital that once united our people,\u201d added Professor Adwok.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Nyaba linked the failure to achieve national aspirations to leadership shortcomings, noting that South Sudan\u2019s rich endowment of natural resources has yet to translate into social, economic, or political cohesion.<\/p>\n

Florence Agiba, speaking for South Sudanese youth, contrasted the ambition of the younger generation with the caution of older leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people are full of energy, ideas, and the drive to transform South Sudan. Yet our voices are not being heard, and we are often excluded from decision-making tables,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Agiba demanded equitable youth participation in governance, transitional justice, and socio-economic development.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people are not just the future; they are essential partners today,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n

The dialogue underscored cross-cutting challenges that continue to undermine peace and governance.<\/p>\n

Participants highlighted the need for a unified professional army, completion of the peace agreement, functional democratic institutions, equitable inclusion of youth and women, and civic education to strengthen national cohesion.<\/p>\n

Speakers agreed that South Sudan\u2019s political space remains fragile, with trust between parties low and implementation of agreements uneven.<\/p>\n

Without addressing these structural issues, the country risks continued instability and stagnation.<\/p>\n

The speakers closed with a unified call for dialogue, inclusion, and honest reflection.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur political differences should not overshadow our common identity. Only together can we build a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous South Sudan,\u201d Apayi said.<\/p>\n

The third day of the Stakeholders\u2019 Dialogue made clear that citizens, leaders, and youth are aligned in their vision.<\/p>\n

South Sudan must prioritize peace, social cohesion, and democratic participation, turning decades of struggle into tangible progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lodu William Odiya\/Alan Clement \u00a0Chairperson of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), Dr. Lam Akol, urged South Sudanese and leaders in particular to be honest in the implementation of the peace agreement. He expressed that people should acknowledge the failures of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":41399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lam.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41400,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41398\/revisions\/41400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}