President Salva Kiir - June 22, 2022. Photo credit: PPU

President Salva Kiir Mayardit has offered dialogue with holdout opposition groups, saying it will be an honor to men and women who died liberating the country.

President Kiir made the call on Saturday to mark a muted commemoration of the Martyrs’ Day.

The day is also to commemorate the anniversary of the demise of SPLM leader Dr. John Garang de Mabior, in a helicopter crash while returning from Uganda, on July 30th 2005.

In a statement seen by Eye Radio, the president paid tribute to martyrs, veterans of the liberation struggle, and widows and orphans and organized forces for their sacrifice to the country.

“In honour of the martyrs, let us devote our energies to achieving total peace and stability. By doing so, we will assure that our martyrs are honoured for eternity,” reads the statement.

In the recent weeks, armed insurgencies by the opposition movement SSPM/A in Unity State, have killed nearly 100 people including the Commissioner of Mayom County and a high ranking officer.

President Kiir, who was in Uganda for a regional conference, made a written appeal to the armed holdout group to accept peace as the only way to rapid development.

“Let us embrace dialogue as the tool for resolving our differences, because it is the surest way to achieving peace rapid development,” said the Head-of-state.

“On this note, I call upon our brothers and sisters in Holdout Groups to accept dialogue as a way of honuoring those gave their lives for our country,” the statement adds.

Kiir’ administration has been negotiating peace with opposition group who declined to be part of the 2018 peace agreement signed Ethiopia, but little beyond shaky ceasefire has been achieved since 2019.

The negotiations facilitated by Roman-based Sant’ Egidio community, aim to bring onboard, the group known as South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) to end violence and join the peace process.