South Sudan holds national prayers to end war and famine

JUBA: War-torn and famine-hit South Sudan on Friday held a national day of prayer to seek divine help for its problems, while critics slammed the event as a politically motivated stunt.

Thousands gathered for prayers at the mausoleum of John Garang, the founding father of the world’s youngest nation, in the capital Juba.

Leading the prayers, President Salva Kiir called for “repentance and forgiveness to end ethnic divisions.”

Prayers were also held in churches and mosques around the country.

Kiir, who like other South Sudanese leaders is accused of exploiting ethnic divisions in order to advance his political career, admitted he had sinned by what he has done and failed to do in the country.

Critics said the prayers were organised to divert attention from the long list of challenges the country is facing.

A power struggle between Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar escalated into a military conflict in December 2013, killing tens of thousands and displacing 3.4 million people.

The conflict has featured constant human rights violations, including ethnic massacres and gang rape. About 100,000 people are facing a famine, while another 1 million are on the brink of famine, according to the UN.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 and the formation of a unity government in April 2016 did not stop the fighting.

The auxiliary Catholic bishop of Juba diocese, Santo Laku Pio, said it was not fitting to organise national prayers while large numbers of people remained displaced.

“We cannot deceive ourselves and God with calls for national prayers as a tool for achieving the end of the war,” Pio said. Peter Mayen Majongdit, leader of the opposition People’s Liberal Party, said the country needed political will to implement the peace agreement, instead of prayers.

“The ongoing civil war... can easily stop if President Kiir and opposition forces... lay down guns and implement the agreement with honesty. It doesn’t need prayer,” he said.

Kiir meanwhile ordered the release of two senior former government officials, presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said.

Former governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal state Elias Waya and former army commander Andrea Dominic had been held for nearly a year, according to local broadcaster Radio Tamazuj.