Senior Leadership of SPLM Political Bureau;
Comrade Peter Lam Both, Interim Secretary General of the SPLM;
Comrade Daniel Abocha Ali, Interim Chairperson of the SPLM Youth League;
All the SPLM Youth League members present;
Ladies and Gentleman;
Good morning.
Today is a special day! I am very happy to be with you on this special occasion to reflect collectively with you on our long history. This collective celebration of our past achievements is the surest way of guiding our Party towards the future.
As you may all know, planning for the future that does not take into account past successes and present challenges is an incomplete work. Our historical achievements as SPLM Party matter, especially when evoked against present challenges, and with the goal of charting a clear path towards the future. This is why your theme for this event: “Celebrating the historical and present achievements while committing to the future” is timely.
Comrades,
Our historic achievements as the people’s Party are known. The protracted armed struggle we waged, the challenging task of negotiating peace with the then Government of Sudan that we undertook, the creation of government structures in Southern Sudan from nothing as well as the complex transitional period we managed were not simple tasks, they were important achievements.
These achievements came because of our commitment to our revolutionary ideals, and more importantly to our people’s aspiration for freedom.
Comrades,
Our path to rapid development was affected by the senseless war we ended in September 2018. All our developmental programs, including attracting foreign direct investment did not materialize because of the war we fought in 2013. The key point here is, war and development do not go hand in hand. As members of the SPLM Youth League, I would like you to take note of this point. War destroys and we cannot afford further destruction in our country. I am encouraging you to prioritize peace in all you do. Champion your political ideals peacefully. Use persuasion to sell your political programs and shun all negative practices that can undermine peaceful co-existence among our people.
Comrades,
Having mentioned our past achievements, our present challenge is the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement. For those of you who read the Revitalized Peace Agreement, it has covered many aspects of institutional reforms in our country.
While these reforms are critical to moving our country forward, the most important aspect of the Revitalized Peace Agreement is the conduct of free, fair, and credible democratic elections. This coming phase calls upon you as youth of the SPLM Party to prepare yourselves for peaceful competition for power. This means you must prepare yourselves to engage with grassroots.
Engaging grassroots entails a lot of listening to understand issues that matter to them. It also entails compiling these concerns and bringing them to the attention of the Party Leadership which will in turn develop them into a cohesive Party’s programs and use them to contest elections with. From today on, proceed knowing that your work has been cut out for you. Engage with the people for without them, we not will succeed as the party.
Comrades,
Determining our future starts now. In my recent address to the joint session of the Reconstituted National Legislature, I clearly told our MPs that we cannot defer development to some other times. In the same speech, I have also outlined development programs that we need to take collectively as parties to the Revitalized Peace Agreement. These programs, if followed through will lay a foundation for putting our country back to the path of development.
I am repeating the same message to you today and urge you to continue communicating with SPLM members of Parliament to urge them on to move these programs forward. There are a lot of benefits to the youth if the Parliament and the rest of Government follow through on programs outlined in that speech. Let us work to achieve these programs and secure the future of our Party and in the process that of our country.
Thank you all for inviting me to this event. May God bless you and our country the Republic of South Sudan.
