By JOINT REPORT The EastAfrican
IN SUMMARY
Igad last week convened an emergency meeting in Juba to find ways of rescuing Africa’s youngest nation. The foreign ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda with the help of Rwanda are leading the process.
Kenya as the guarantor of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement is the permanent chair of the Igad sub-committee in Sudan, which explains why the Kenyan foreign Secretary Amina Mohammed had to fly to South Sudan to kick-start the negotiation process.
The Igad member states fear political instability in the young nation will destabilise the entire eastern African region by creating a major refugee burden and boosting the flow of small weapons and light arms.
The eight member Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) has taken an early role of spearheading peace and reconciliation in South Sudan in order to stem a full-scale civil war that has the potential of destabilising the whole of eastern Africa.
Igad last week convened an emergency meeting in Juba to find ways of rescuing Africa’s youngest nation. The foreign ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda with the help of Rwanda are leading the process.
“East Africa wishes South Sudan well. We pray our brothers and sisters find room to talk and agree on the way forward. The conflict in South Sudan must be resolved soon so as to preserve life and restore livelihoods of the citizens and diaspora in the country,” said Rwandan minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo.
Kenya as the guarantor of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement is the permanent chair of the Igad sub-committee in Sudan, which explains why the Kenyan foreign Secretary Amina Mohammed had to fly to South Sudan to kick-start the negotiation process.
Regional matter
“I am en route to South Sudan to offer first hand assistance to our diaspora and also the South Sudan government. This is a regional matter touching on EAC,” Ms Mohammed tweeted last Thursday.
The Igad member states fear political instability in the young nation will destabilise the entire eastern African region by creating a major refugee burden and boosting the flow of small weapons and light arms.
Tanzania, which is not a member of Igad, expressed concern as an EAC founder member. The East African state called for warring factions to consider a roundtable discussion rather than military option.
The East African Co-operation Deputy Minister, Dr Abdullah Saddallah, said the military route could never bring about an amicable solution for a political turmoil.
“South Sudan’s peace and harmony can only be achieved through dialogue. Our prayer is that wisdom will prevail for the sake of innocent South Sudanese and the new nation,” Dr Saddallah told The EastAfrican.
Richard Onyonka, a former Kenyan assistant minister for foreign affairs, says that while South Sudan is still far from meeting the conditions of the EAC membership, countries in the region should embrace it and guide it under collective common acceptable standards.
Mr Onyonka said the same approach worked well with Burundi after decades of civil war.
Both Kenya and Uganda who have the highest stakes in the developments in South Sudan, have already deployed forces along their borders with the troubled country to prevent the influx of unwanted elements and weapons.
The United Nations had requested President Yoweri Museveni’s help given that Uganda has long had close ties to southerners who fought Sudan’s government for decades before securing an independent state in 2011.
By Fred Oluoch, Berna Namata and Adam Ihucha