South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir said he initially wanted to delay key next steps in the peace deal by one year after the opposition called for a six-month extension.

Last week, South Sudan’s once-warring parties agreed to delay key next steps in the September peace deal by six months after the main opposition said security arrangements are insufficient.

The government wanted to form the transitional government of national unity by 12 May with pending steps later, saying any delay to the formation of the government would crush the hopes of citizens for peace.

However President Kiir on Wednesday said the six-month extension agreed with opposition groups after closed-door talks in Addis Ababa for the formation of a new government was not enough time to implement outstanding issues.

"I told our team that went from here that instead of six months, let us call for one year," Kiir told government officials while launching the new civil registry in Juba.

The South Sudanese leader said rains from May to November will make the country's roads impassable. “You cannot move with a car to any area, but if it is a one-year delay, pending issues can be implemented next year,” he said.

Kiir accused opposition leader Riek Machar of continuing to recruit fighters despite the signed peace deal.

"He is now recruiting and this recruitment is not allowed in the agreement and if it is a matter of recruitment, it is not difficult for me to also recruit," he said.

“If we go for elections, I may be defeated by anybody. But Riek Machar will never become a president by force. He wants to recruit so that he comes with a lot of soldiers so that he comes to push us out,” he added.

 UN rights investigators have accused all sides of continuing to recruit soldiers.

According to published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that at least 382,900 people have died as a result of the civil war in South Sudan.