 Hundreds of lawmakers have been sworn in to a newly created national parliament in South Sudan. It's a long overdue condition of a peace deal that ended civil war in the country. And in all 588 MPs took the oath of office at a ceremony in Jubbra presided over by the Chief Justice. And 62 lawmakers stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony and some of them became because of squabbles with the government. The inclusive parliament has made up of delegates from the ruling party and former rebel factions who signed a 2018 cease-fire that paused five years of bloodshed. About 400,000 people are reported to have died in those years. The challenges ahead of us are enormous. To confront and overcome those challenges, the situation demands that we, as the representatives of our people, should look beyond political, partisan and tribal expediencies and focus keenly on the common good of all. Our people are fed up of wars. As their representatives, we ought to be the people at the front of the efforts to recognize that plight. Hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.