Will President Kiir and Riek Machar’s Power Sharing Deal Brings Peace and Stability to South Sudan?
4 min readWill There be Stability in South Sudan If Peace Agreement is Signed Today Between President Kiir and Dr. Machar Riek?
By Chuol C. Puoch
March 25, 2015 (SSB) – South Sudan has badly been hit almost in all aspects by this conflict, giving more chances of social, political and financial disintegration both on personal and institutional basis leaving nearly every living South Sudanese in a quandary on the future and present of themselves and that of the Country.
Each and every single problem, be it something associated with environment, politics, economics, social, cultural etc. is now a problem of Salva Kirr and Riek Machar who doesn’t want to bring peace to ‘us’ even if, in reality, that particular problem has nothing to do with either of the two men.
We, I mean all of us, have developed a sense of laziness and blamestorming resulting into procrastination; we try as much as possible to create a linkage between whatever problem we encounter and the ongoing conflict led by the two men, Riek and Kirr.
Most of the time, peace and stability are like a mother and a child as the former produce the later and safeguard its realization, coverage and durability.
But, will that really be the case in South Sudan? Will we have stability if peace is inked between our two leaders, Riek and Kirr today? Will there be stability in Lake State? Are we not going to go to war with Sudan again on the issue of Abyei e.i will there be stability in Abyei? Will Shilluk accept that Malakal is for the people of Upper Nile and not Chollo Land (Podh Choll) alone to chase out Nuer and Dinka? Will there be stability in Jonglei between Dinka, Nuer and Murle?
Will UPDF leave our soil peacefully without any disturbances? Will the hourly killing stop in Juba? Will the soil of Equatoria be respected and not grabbed from its owners every now and then? Are we going to have economical men and women to tackle our economical challenges that may lengthen our economic instability without corruption?
The question above plus many more are some of the highlights subjected to further individual interrogation and once put in place; a comprehensive peace that wholly safeguard a wide covering and durable stability would finally be achieved.
Gen. Salva Kirr Mayardit Deng Kuethpiny and Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon may know what they are doing, they are matured politicians who would soon or later come together and have stability between them.
But, what about the millions of adolescents driven into politics by the situation and cannot differentiate between normal/ordinary life and political life, how do we rescue them and restore stability among them by removing the hatred that have been pumped into them by the situation?
Talk to an elder, a grandparent in the community; all they will tell you about X tribes is that we can never be in peace and harmony with them; they are so and so (worse) and can never be in peace with others. How do we convince those traumatized grandparents and parents that the Country is still one; that there are no Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk or Bahri that will own this Country alone?
Make a slight mistake now as a person, you will only hear your tribe being abuse in your before leaving you wondering what involves your tribes in a mistake you individually made. Consider there is peace today between Kirr and Riek, will the generalization of Anyuak tribes because of Oman who made an individual mistake to Garang stop?
All these and many more are the factors, if not the sources, contributing to broadening the instability among individuals, institution and communities.
The purpose of writing this piece is to outline the fact that peace signed between Kirr and Riek will never bring a comprehensive stability among us and with our environment.
I believe that there will be stability in our Country but we shouldn’t expect it to come from Addis Ababa alongside the peace agreement paper. A meaningful stability is not forced or imposed; but developed, nurtured and apprehended fully with care and respect.
It’s not a closed door meeting resolution but an outdoor/indoor practice and all of us are required, even by moral laws of course, to practice it and give it as a reward to our land and those who died for it.
Riek and Kirr will bring us a paper from Addis Ababa written ‘Peace Agreement’ (in case they will do it), but to translate it into reality is our collective responsibility; Riek and Kirr are there for us and by us, they are the lames and we are the pretending blinds.
We are ‘pretending blinds’ because we actually see more than the two men do!
Chuol C. Puoch can be reached via email: chuolchotson@gmail.com or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chuolcpuoch. He can also be followed on Twitter @chuolcpuoch
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