The Republic of South Sudan is preparing to celebrate what President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar have called the ‘final’ peace agreement on Wednesday, October 31.
Juba resident Alfonso Albino is expecting a real political, social, economic and security change. He’s a member of ‘Salam Junub’ or Peaceful South Sudan, an entity that goes around Juba raising awareness about the need for peaceful co-existence amongst communities.
We expect that after the celebrations of Peace Day created by the government, things will return to normal and everything will change.
It is not clear whether Mr Machar will attend the celebrations. On Friday, a spokesman for his group said in a statement “we are still waiting for the release of political detainees and prisoners of war.”
Presidents of Sudan, Uganda and Kenya are expected to attend the celebration.
Reik Machar was last in South Sudan in 2016, following his reinstatement as vice president under a short-lived peace deal agreed in 2015.
South Sudan has been torn apart by an ethnic civil war since late 2013, two years after its independence.
