EA civil society urges end to South Sudan impasse

The East African Civil Society Organisations’ Forum (EACSOF) has urged South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his former deputy-turned-foe Riek Machar to “take collective responsibility and find urgent mechanisms for constructive dialogue.”The EACSOF said in barely two weeks, more than 1,200 people have lost their lives to yet another needless conflict on the continent that can only get worse if the leaders do not make a pro-people decision.“Further continuation of violence will not place the country and its people in any better status,” reads part of a statement signed by Patrick Michael Moshi of the EACSOF Secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania.The war has led to hundreds of deaths and extreme suffering of people, including innocent children, women and the elderly.“As East Africans brace up to share medical facilities, food and basic necessities with the growing influx of Sudanese, we call upon leaders in Sudan to take advantage of the demonstrated support from the UN, AU, Igad [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] and EAC, to find an urgent return to normalcy in the country.”Hell broke loose a fortnight ago when troops loyal to Machar–sacked as vice-president in July–purportedly staged a coup. The Dinka, to which Kiir belongs, are pitted against the Nuer, Machar’s tribe, in what could blow into a full-scale civil war if not halted.Regional leaders, including Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, the current chair of East African Community (EAC), last week began initiatives to help end the impasse. Kenyatta’s trip to Juba was later followed by an extraordinary session of the Igad member states, which set Tuesday as date to mediate in the South Sudan conflict. Cautious optimismSouth Sudan officials such as Stephen Par Kuol, deposed as State minister for education in Jonglei state last week by Machar’s forces, appear cautiously optimistic.Kuol, a Nuer, last week published an article, “South Sudan: Another Rwanda in the making,” in which he appealed to South Sudanese intellectuals, civil society and political leaders to rise to the occasion to reverse the unfolding catastrophe.“As for optimism, although regional civil society has a role, it is Salva Kiir to show the way. He must start by releasing all the prisoners of conscience,” Kuol told this paper on Sunday.Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a political scientist and senior research fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research in Uganda, said what will help South Sudan is broad agreement among rivals.He said the best EAC leaders and others could do to help is make an effort to understand the origins of the conflict before trying to come up with half-baked solutions or proposals for resolving it.“In addition, efforts ought to be made to identify other potential sources of conflict to ensure they do not catalyse conflict in the future,” Golooba-Mutebi said.Golooba-Mutebi, who has conducted research in South Sudan, added: “No conflict is un-resolvable. It is always merely a question of how easy it is to resolve it, and how fast it can be done. I do not imagine that the conflict in South Sudan is easy to resolve, nor do I think it can be settled with quick fixes.“It is not the first time an SPLM/A official has led an uprising. It would be useful to examine what it is, if anything, that connects this particular uprising with those that happened in the past. There may lie the answer to what should happen to ensure they do not happen again.” Bid to join EAC in balance?The EACSOF says the conflict is a big blow to the East African people on the whole and a setback to the East African integration process.South Sudan applied to join the EAC shortly after it seceded from Sudan in 2011.For any new member to join the EAC, six benchmarks set out in the EAC Treaty must be met. These conditions include: adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law and observance of human rights and social justice.The current internal crisis in South Sudan does not augur well with its bid for membership of the EAC, the EAC Secretariat spokesperson, Owora Richard Othieno, told journalists last week.Before the current conflict begun, the EAC had scheduled the first negotiation meeting with South Sudan for January 13 to 22, 2014, in Arusha, with the ultimate decision on South Sudan joining the Community expected to be known by April next year.Golooba-Mutebi believes that South Sudan’s admission to the EAC can only help because other member states will be concerned to ensure that there is political stability throughout the Community.“I think that those who share this view will want to see it admitted sooner rather than later, while those who believe that only peaceful and stable countries that are not prone to instability should be admitted will possibly clamor for the decision to be stayed a bit longer.”

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EA civil society urges end to South Sudan impasse