South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has said the general elections would go ahead as scheduled, ruling out any move to extend the current transitional government after expiry of the roadmap.

Hundreds of thousands of people thronged the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State capital, Aweil to glimpse at the 71-year old South Sudanese leader.

Kiir, in his keynote address, also reaffirmed the coalition government’s commitment to ensure that road networks reach all parts of the country.

“The government is working on building infrastructural development across the country to improve road connectivity across the country,” he assured.

The president said the peace agreement is holding and that the roadmap that was approved by the political parties is currently being implemented.

He appealed to the parties to the peace deal to help implement the roadmap.

“How many transitional governments have we formed so far? That is not good and by the end of this roadmap, we must go for the elections, and any person who loses the elections must not blame anyone,” said Kiir.

In August last year, South Sudan’s parties to the September 2018 peace agreement signed a political roadmap extending the transitional period for 24 months, citing failure to complete critical benchmarks on agreed time.

Kiir urged parents to prioritise education of the girl child, stressing that girls should be given an opportunity instead of being taken as sources of wealth.

“The Issue of girl child education need special attention. Girls should not be taken as source of wealth rather should be given the same opportunity like the boy child to go to school,” he stressed.

On Saturday last week, the South Sudanese leader pledged his commitment organize free and fair general elections earmarked for 2024.

The end of the transitional period was scheduled for 2022, but was pushed back to December 2024 due to the lack of progress on many provisions of the 2018 peace agreement that ended a bloody five-year civil war.

Speaking to citizens in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, Kiir said he signed the peace roadmap to complete South Sudan’s transition and prepare for elections, reiterating his pledge not to return the country to another war.

“I accepted the extension of the transitional period by 24 months to give the political parties ample time to prepare for general elections,” said Kiir.

He added, “We want to bring an end to transitional governments”.

Meanwhile, South Sudan’s Vice President for Services Cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol said the people of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State will stand in solidarity with the government in the general elections.