South Sudan gained independence on July 9, 2011 from Sudan after decades of struggle.

Just two years into statehood, the country was plunged into a bloody Civil War that claimed nearly 400,000 lives.

After a fragile 2018 peace agreement between Kiir and his rival Riek Machar, who is the current vice-president of the country, the country continues to be under the dangers of political instability, economic stress and an acute hunger crisis.

“I assure you that I will not return you back to war again. Let us work all together to recover the lost decade and put our country back to the path of development in this new decade,” Kiir said in a televised address on Friday marking the milestone, reported Al Jazeera.

In a statement, Nicholas Haysom, the head of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said, “The journey from war to peace has been a long and difficult one and there is still much to be done so that people can exercise the democratic right they earned a decade ago.

“We … urge the country’s political leaders to seize this opportunity to make the hopes and dreams of a decade ago a reality by securing the sustainable peace needed to enable full recovery and development.”

Oil-rich South Sudan had received massive international backing, including financial support, when its people voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to secede from the north.

The leaders, who led the country to independence, failed to establish peace and stability and within a short time corruption took over the country as huge sums from its vast oil fields were misappropriated and squandered.