President Salva Kiir Mayardit has attributed the decision to hold a low-key Independence Day celebration to sanctions adding nothing is worth a party in the youngest nation at the moment.

President Kiir expressed his frustrations during an interview with a Kenyan TV station, Citizen, hosted by former BBC journalist Jeff Koinange, where he discussed a raft of issues on his stint at the helm of the country’s leadership from 2011.

Before the interview, the president had chaired a meeting of the council of ministers where a resolution was made that the head of state would only read his speech in the presence of the members of the government in the country and leaders from the diplomatic community. This dimmed the hope of having a pompous event decked with series of entertainments and colourful speeches to mark a decade of self-rule.

The Deputy Minister of Information, Telecommunication and Postal Services Baba Medan urged South Sudanese people in a televised address that they should celebrate from the confines of their homes due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic scare.

But on Wednesday night, just hours after the meeting, the head of state shifted the blame to the foreign powers. He described them as economic saboteurs that have burdened the country with sanctions, not to mention the latest arms embargo that was extended by the United Nations Security Council.

President Kiir said South Sudan is a rich country but the affluence had been trapped in the political dogfights that have led to sanctions. And, that no resources can be utilised with such sanctions in place.

‘‘The international community should give us room to do our things. Number one is the issue of sanctions and the other added is now the arms embargo. We ask them to lift the arms embargo so that we can buy arms for those who are in training,’’ the president said during the interview.

He went further to say: ‘‘Implementation of the agreement cannot be completed without arming the unified forces. All the parties to the peace deal are supposed to be armed.’’

Arms embargo

President Kiir’s regret comes after a protracted battle with the UN over the May 2021 decision to extend the arms embargo.

‘‘The Security Council, acting through its written silence procedure today, renewed the arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze imposed on South Sudan for another year and extended for 13 months the mandate of the panel of experts tasked with helping to oversee those measures, while expressing its readiness to adjust them in light of conditions on the ground,’’ read a statement from the UN council released in May 2020 confirming the decision.

A total of 13 countries voted for the extension as Kenya and India abstained from voting.

What ensued was criticism from Ateny Wek Ateny, the Presidential Press Secretary, who termed the decision unfortunate and in contravention of the peace agreement.

“We did not expect the international community to treat South Sudan like this because the international community has an obligation of ensuring the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) being implemented properly in later and spirit.

“If you armed them with sticks, they wouldn’t be called forces and the security sector will not be met,’’ said Ateny.