The failure to reach peace at Addis Ababa talks one year after the South Sudan conflict erupted is due to lack of political will, Bishop Enock Tombe said today on UN Radio Miraya.

The Bishop, of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, was speaking during a debate the radio organized to discuss delays in reaching a peace deal in South Sudan after conflict erupted last December.

Bishop Tombe said political leaders should have been examples of peace.

“Unfortunately, instead of dialogue, they use violence and now in Addis Ababa they are being encouraged to talk about peace,” the Bishop said. “But there is tendency always to think that they can end it through military means.”

The Bishop, who is also a member of the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation, said talks in Addis Ababa had reached a stalling point because the two sides had failed to agree on the system of governance, power sharing and reconciliation of the two principle leaders.

Tombe appreciated the role by civil society organizations and faith-based institutions in achieving peace in South Sudan, after parties had wasted four months with no direct talks. He said the parties were just interested in power-sharing and positions.

According to the Bishop, the issue of transitional justice to account for crimes committed during the conflict was raised by civil society organizations and faith-based institutions invited to peace talks by mediators.

“When we came, it is when they began to talk seriously because they began to get inputs from the other stakeholders,” said Bishop Enock. “For example, the issue of accountability would have been just swept under the carpet.”

Meanwhile, civil society activist Mou Ambrose Thic said any future leader of South Sudan should take atrocities committed during the conflict seriously.