Opinion: South Sudan Government Should Prioritize Forgiveness and reconciliation this year, 2022

By Gatkuoth Majiok Chol,

Melbourne, Australia.

Jan 5, 2022 — I am wishing you and your family a healthy and prosperous new year. For sure none of us has any hint of what the future holds in 2022, but God does. I’m certain that the ultimate aspiration of everyone for the New Year is to see the country immersed in peace as a whole. But, before focusing on a new year much, let me rewind back to our painful journey or dark days. It was a distressing experience because the journey was tough, the road was narrow and rough with no light at all, only with help from a few friends who were kind-hearted to torch the path. Many beautiful souls were lost on the way, not because they were guilty, but to make the journey possible to achieve the objectives goals, and reach the destination. The true unity among the South Sudanese was seen during the struggle beyond the regions as responsible people after we crossed uncounted miles for fighting for our own rights. However, God did not make a mistake in permitting the remnant of patriotism to be on the lead to witness the independence of the New State. God was wise enough to spare their lives in order to tell the paucity story of the struggle and encourage the devoted young generation to keep that hope and unity alive. 

From 2013 to 2021 the country had witnessed exacerbated losses not only from the army uniforms but among the civilians which could reap the dividend of the struggle. Despite the tranquility of the massive resources that we own, the South Sudanese continue killing themselves, displacing themselves, and making themselves starve and roaming among the poor nations.  It hurts when aggregating your thoughts and reflecting back and seeing the long way that we came from, and suddenly turning into a catastrophe to our people.  

In spite of the woeful experiences, the question that should be asked is, what should be done to reassemble the unity and reduce the loss of lives across the country in 2022? To be brief, the greatest gift that our community and country need most in 2022 is forgiveness and reconciliation in order to promote healing both mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. I have sufficient faith in all our brilliant leaders, men and women to combine their innate capacity for the peace’s mission.  Let peace be a center of our focus in 2022 and a growing consensus that will encourage our people to forgive each other and engage in constructive dialogue that bears fruit to bring sustainable peace which can help our people to live harmoniously with each other. Even if your relative lost his or her life at the hand of someone that you know, please forgive him or her. Because the only way to exit in this mess and live a productive life or move forward is by practicing forgiveness and having the compassionate heart to love and to detach all toxic thoughts of revenge, division, hate, and resentment. Also, the government can help to grant opportunities and provide security to all religious leaders in the country to partake in reconciliation. 

It is essential to consistently and support our people with useful ideas which can bring lasting peace, security, and stability not with guns and ammunition. I’m sure the difficult time has passed, now we can utilize this chance to make a U-turn to motivate the broken souls and share the experience that promotes unity and makes us proud. let the peace-loving continue to preach forgiveness in spirit to pave way for reconciliation and peace-building. Forgiveness is the only gateway to lasting peace. May God bless us and help us to restore the true dignity, image, and characters of our great country as loving and caring people. Happy Prosperous New year and may bless you all.

For more information, the author can be reached through email at gatkuothchol@yahoo.com.au

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