In a press statement on Christmas Eve, Michael Makuei appealed to the people of South Sudan to support the peace implementation.

He also called on the public to embrace peace and unity.

“We are optimistic that 2023 will be a year of peace and stability and all the holdout groups will definitely join us in the implementation of the agreement,” said Makuei.

“We call upon you all to support and stand with your government in 2023 which will be the last year for implementation of the agreement,

“At the end of 2024, we shall be entering elections, and this is the time when you the people of South Sudan will decide for yourself as to who will lead you in the next period.”

In August this year, President Salva Kiir also reiterated his call to the holdout groups to rejoin the peace process to end conflicts in the country.

Kiir said the government is committed to the Rome peace talks, adding that all the parties should take the peace deal seriously.

Different armed groups which were not signatories to the 2018 peace agreement have been engaged in talks with the unity government in Rome, Italy.

The coalition in talks with the unity government known as South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance, or SSOMA, includes the National Salvation Front led by General Thomas Cirilo, South Sudan United Front of General Paul Malong, and the Real-SPLM of Pagan Amum, among others.

Saint’Egidio Catholic Community in Rome started the mediation between the government and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance in November 2019.

The Rome talks aim at supporting an inclusive peace agreement in South Sudan, by persuading the holdout groups to join the revitalized peace deal signed in September 2018.