The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Daniel Deng Bul, has renewed his call on the Government and the SPLM-in Opposition to put national interest above personal ambitions and reach an agreement to end the conflict without any further delay.

Church leaders from the two biggest tribes in South Sudan have formed an alliance for peace and reconciliation, aimed at bringing an end to the hatred between Dinka and Nuer communities.

Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) Rev. Daniel Deng Bol said it was disgraceful for the two tribes to kill one another instead of staying in peace and harmony.

He urged the two communities to immediately desist from fighting each other because of differences between individuals who have caused the death of many innocent people, including church leaders.

During the two day meeting, the leaders discussed and agreed on a number of modalities that they will employ to facilitate the process of peace and reconciliation among the two tribes.

In one of the resolution, the leaders agreed to hold a peaceful demonstration in Juba and other areas, to denounce use of violence as a means of resolving political differences.

They also resolved to meet government officials living in UNMISS camps and encourage them to go back to their homes as a way of building confidence within the people, and to pave way for reconciliation and national healing.

On popular participation, the pastors agreed to establish church-based peace committees at the local level, to speed up the process of mobilization for peace and reconciliation among the two tribes.

According to Archbishop Deng, the initiative is to show solidarity of the church leaders and to preach the spirit of peace and reconciliation.

The meeting was supported by the National Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation. The meeting took place in Juba on Saturday.

This meeting soon after another meeting that was held earlier in the month, bringing together leaders from the Greater Upper Nile region in Juba, that was called to chart the way forward in light of the conflict that erupted in the country in December, 2013.

The meeting that brought together more than a thousand religious, community and political leaders from the three states, urged South Sudanese to stop blaming each other over the crisis in the country, and to instead seek solutions to the challenges facing them.

This meeting is a good sign as it will help to heal the wounds that have been inflicted by the violence that has been meted out to innocent civilians since the violence broke out. It is worthy to note that the violence that started as a result of differences between soldiers in the army barracks in Juba, took an ethnic dimension, which has mostly affected the Dinka and the Nuer people.

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