By Daniel Wuor Joak
August 26, 2014 (SSNA) — It has become apparent that the eight months old civil war in South Sudan is not yet ending and the suffering of several millions South Sudanese still unresolved. The supposedly five pages document which IGAD and their Troika allies have developed and tried to impose on the two principal warring parties; President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar Teny, leader of SPLM/A to sign in order to end the ongoing war in the country, was categorically rejected yesterday on 25th August. This proved that IGAD and its allies have no choice but rather to extend the deadline for six more weeks similar to the previous deadline of sixty days which unfortunately elapsed without any meaningful results. While the violations of Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed on 23rd January 2014, between the two warring parties still not respected. Towns like Bentiu, Malakal, Ayod and Nasir were recaptured by the government forces and their UPDF, JEM and SPLA-N allies in April, after the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was concluded and IGAD had done nothing about it to condemn the aggressor.
The unsigned five page’s document, it seems IGAD heads of state of Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia have stubbornly made up their minds to retain President Kiir at all costs to continue heading the Transitional Interim Government of South Sudan with absolute power. Creations of the post of Prime Minister with two deputies is not a solution but more less escalation of the ongoing conflict believe it or not. The position vehemently taken by IGAD heads of state to keep President Kiir as President of South Sudan during the proposed Interim Government of National Unity, while at the same time imposing peace in the country by force is directly an insult to twenty thousand innocent Nuer civilians who were summarily massacred in Juba and surrounding areas following the aftermath of fighting on the 15th December 2013 by the same President. Sadly indeed, IGAD heads of state have miserably failed to address the root causes of the conflict. The whole world including the UN have categorically dismissed the so-called Kiir’s fabricated coup d’état which would have complicated Dr. Riek Machar and his associates.
Funny enough, US Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry has always boasted in front of cameramen and women wherever he goes by honouring President Kiir an elected President who cannot be removed from office before his term is over. While in US former President Richard Richard Nixon was unceremoniously impeached from office as result of leakages of sensitive documents. Should massacres of over twenty thousand unarmed Nuer civilians be less important than leakages of mere documents which later amounted to the removal of President from office? IGAD should learn from the Somalia’s saga where the same heads of state had hastily dispatched more than 23 thousands soldiers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Burundi and Rwanda in order to quell down Al Shabaab militias who have been labelled by US government as terrorist’s cell in East Africa. The war in Somalia still raging with heavy casualties on both sides and the solution is nowhere to be found. The American forces with their mighty power of 30,000 US Marines had tried in early 1990s and miserably failed.
The war in South Sudan is more complicated than that of Somalia because President Salva Kiir had murdered one ethnic group the “Nuer” in thousands and IGAD wished to impose him by force to rule the same victims. This will not work as long as President Kiir remains in power. IGAD should find better and amicable solution if their intention is to resolve the conflict in South Sudan otherwise they will be resisted like in Somalia.
The other concern is the present of UPDF in South Sudan. There is no way Presient Yoweri K. Museveni can act as an occupier of our land and at the same time masquerading as peace maker. That will never happen. Whether the imposed IGAD agreement is signed by the two leaders namely; President Slava Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar or not the war in South Sudan will never end as long as President Salva Kiir remains in power under protection of IGAD and their troika’s paymasters. Justice is always denied to those who honestly seek it but crooks are always rewarded. This is what is happening with IGAD mediations in South Sudan conflict.
The Author is the Executive Director of the African Centre for Human Advocacy (ACHA). He can be reached through: [email protected]