President Kiir meets Dr. Lam Akol in Nairobi

In an intensive interview today at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi, Dr. Akol said he has not come to Juba since the independence of South Sudan for a number of reasons some of which are personal while some are connected to the political atmosphere in the country. He explained that in his meeting with H.E the President, they discussed some political issues and now he is ready to come to Juba; he will not continue to keep away from his own country.

Dr. Akol also sent a message to the people of South Sudan calling for unity. “We should push together as South Sudanese and be united for a common objective of building the new state in a democratic, political, religious and cultural diversity”, he said. He urged his party to push forward with the program of building South Sudan and act as a mirror for correcting mistakes for the government since the opposition and the ruling party are complementary. “We are joined together by the new country, only the way of serving people is being seen differently from each other”, he emphasized.

The opposition leader described the speech delivered by the President of the Republic H.E Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit to the UN/GA in New York, as a good speech, for it came at the time when the newly born state of South Sudan is in need of the goodwill of the international community. He said UN and AU did not take long to recognize South Sudan. “As we are now applying to the regional organizations, we expect smooth welcoming”, he predicted. He said further that the theme of the speech was that the new state is facing a lot of state building challenges needs to determine which areas it needs assistance in.