South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Wednesday warned any attempt to forcefully seize power in the country would be met with “violent resistance”. The warning follows calls for his ouster on social media.
Over the last few weeks, a group the Red Card Movement has been circulating calls online for a protest against the President with the hashtags #KiirMustGo and #SouthSudanUprising. It appears that the social media movement is inspired by street protests in neighboring Sudan which led to the ousting of long-serving president Omar al-Bashir.
“Violent attempts to usurp power from the people would be met with violent resistance and the cycle of violence cannot end,” Kiir told reporters during a press briefing, reported Africa News. “The way to stability in South Sudan is through democracy and democratic elections, and this is what we fought for and we will not compromise it.”
The security on the streets of Juba has been increased since last few weeks. But it has no connection with the planned reports. According to the officials, the security has been beefed up in preparation for a public holiday Thursday celebrating those who took up arms in the fight for independence from Sudan, achieved in 2011.
During an interview with AFP, Army spokesman Major-General Lul Ruai Koang said the celebrations had been postponed by a week to add final touches to the preparations.
“The security deployment and all sorts of security arrangements (are) to provide maximum security and safety for the people during the celebrations,” he said.
South Sudan got its independence from Sudan in 2011, but it soon plunged into civil war in 2013 after Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against him. The violence led to the death of more than 380,000 people dead and forced more than four million South Sudanese to flee their homes.
A peace deal signed was signed in September 2018 to stop the violence fighting, but implementation and formation of a unity government as part of the deal is yet to be done. The deadline to form a unity government has been extended to six months.
