Leader of the “Arrow boys” from Western Equatoria signs peace accord with the government
8 min readBy Charles Kisanga, Press Conference-JIA
July 20, 2016 (SSB) — Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press. Good Morning. I welcome you all to this press conference at Juba International Airport for my arrival back in Juba after nearly 9 months in exile. Indeed as you heard from my colleague Presidential spokesman, Cde Ateny Wek Ateny, this return marks the beginning of the end of any war in WES or Greater Equatoria between Government and Arrow Boys for that matter and a new era of peaceful co-existence in South Sudan can start where peace building measures among us can take precedence.
Indeed in November last year, 3 months after the peace agreement had been signed there was no sign of peace as rebellion was ongoing all over the country spreading to new areas. It was a surprise that those who signed peace were actively recruiting young men for fighting still in Equatoria though we first assumed fighting would only be confined to Upper Nile and some parts of Bahr el Ghazal. It seemed like all young men/women from my payams were being indoctrinated to follow a movement which had nothing to do with their problems or grievances in their places as if there were no leaders from them. It was surprising that IO chairman signed peace in August 2015, yet the movement was arguing our people to recruit for more war.
Hence I decided to come out and assure Equatorians if you are indeed joining IO because of the injustice done to us then please do not go all the way to Upper Nile to look for leaders, am here as leader who can also take up your grievances and raise it with Government or IGAD if it means that. Also if people needed same rights as guaranteed under the ARCISS for Upper Nile, then we could as well do the same. We can put together all those grievances and issues affecting the people; be it cattle camps, mistreatment by SPLA, lack of representation in the Army, the SPLA, lack of inclusiveness in many national Institutions; all these we need to say them load rather than joining other rebellions which will not care about our grievances but just coining us into fighting for somebody’s interest which we know by now how others tried to make IO a family business enterprise or aim for Presidency. Will such enterprise or interest raise our concerns with the National Government or even the negotiating partners of the International Community? No. Were they not the very people to oppose Equatorian participation in Addis Ababa Talks as a third group even when the Government here allowed our Governors to go there and present our interest?
When I came out I said the issue of South Sudanese is also about patriotism where we should love the our country and love each other on equal bases without referring to any tribe but the word South Sudanese is enough to guarantee everything. Please let us stop killing each other on tribal bases. We are all brothers and sisters of this country with one blood of South Sudan. That is why I said so let us call our Movement People’s Patriotic Front combined with Arrow Boys who were already protecting their people in the villages from LRA and since Arrow Boys were fighting without a political expression we add in the political dimension and their love for their people to extend to our South Sudanese people to love one another regardless of tribe or ethnicity. So SSPPF/Arrow Boys was born and I became Commander in Chief/Chairman. Of course the idea of Equatoria under its own leaders did not go well with IO members and they were soon fighting SSPPF/Arrow Boys. But SSPPF/Arrow Boys was the movement to tell the Government our grievance of why all the young men were not happy in their villages and were being easily deceived to join a faraway rebellion.
Our Government have listened and we started talks which yielded results already with a section of the Arrow Boys signing agreement with Government, the SSNLM but the majority stuck out because they were being deceived to join different movement with a different interest for somebody’ to secure his position and fight for leadership not via ballot box but by force. So I had to make sure that no one is being confused into joining something which undermine their security and their grievances and hence convinced most of the Arrow Boys now to be under SSPPF/Arrow Boys. After that from March I declared Ceasefire with Government for all SSPPF/Arrow boys and the group of SSNLM followed suit also signing a peace deal with Government showing that that indeed you need not carry the hat of IO in order for you to have your problem heard and discussed with the Government and Government is there for the Patriotic citizens of South Sudan. We have continued this approach and been talking with Government. It is really very clear that by signing agreement in August 2015 which confined to most areas in Upper Nile, then if there is anything happening elsewhere it has to be dealt by Government because the ARCISS agreement, after signing, could not continue to expand. This is why we said there is no need for IO to recruit here after their agreement and to force us under their cantonment in Equatoria when our issues was different and came out mostly after their agreement had been signed. But the South Sudanese Army need us all and if part of the fighting by Arrow Boys was lack of representation in the army then also the young men in SSPPF/Arrow boys can have cantonment areas from agreement with Government where they can train and be prepared to join the Institutions like Army/SPLA and other organised forces as much as members of IO who hail mostly from Upper Nile can have. This will give us all equal representation in Government and all our grievances can be addressed by the peace within. It does not mean that you can only have peace when you join IO. Government have mostly accepted our demands on this and are ready to work with us all SSPPF/Arrow Boys and addressing our grievances and can accommodate all on same basis of SSNLM agreement and the President’s General Amnesty.
As such there is no reason for me to remain in exile and am back here so that we can talk on moving our country forward and leaving bitter divisions behind which continue to undermine progress. When foreigners talk of taking over our country via military intervention then every South Sudanese need to stop our internal differences and come together and we can make even better peace deals and agreements for the welfare of our country than those negotiated by foreigners who have no clue of what can really work in the country because they usual put their interest first. We have seen how such agreement brought about the uncalled for fighting and attack on J1 which resulted in so many loss of lives and such must be condemned while we regret the loss of lives and ask God Almighty to rest the souls of the departed in peace.
It is also surprising that somebody who signed a peace deal already with Government can continue to recruit for more war while you are sitting in Juba trying to implement the peace agreement. It is said in the Bible you cannot serve two masters: so you cannot serve war and serve peace at same time. It cannot work. Hence I was also surprised by the recruitment campaign by some IO elements (group within) in Equatoria lately while their people are in Juba for peace. Why? SSPPF/Arrow Boys stopped all recruitment from date of Ceasefire and working closely with Government to achieve genuine peace. The only recruitment supposed to happen is one from all the fighting groups in order to set up a professional National Army for South Sudan after all the crisis from December 2013 according to the ARCISS. We cannot make peace and wage war at the same time and the result can be catastrophic like what happened with ignition at J1 on Friday 8th July 2016. Hence I say Please stop recruitment campaign in Equatorian let us give the agreement a chance of implementation.
I do not like the fact Foreign forces want to come and take over our country but this what can happen unless we can sort our political and tribal defences very quickly. Loosing sovereignty is another colonial period and who wants 25,000 foreign troops? Your Army will never develop. Once you give chance to foreign intervention they will never leave just like in Iraqi, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Congo. The wars will continue and the country will live as a perpetual polarised state because foreign intervention never gives chance for people to sort their differences but rather keep you polarized in chaos and fighting each other so that their mandate can continue. Well in 2011 the mandate of the UNMISS was for one year and they would help us stay peaceful and maintain security but did that happen? The mandate continue to be renewed and the very things they were to prevent continue to multiply and it will continue like Congo DR unless we South Sudanese sit down and decide we can do fairly on our own and are patriotic and not divisive to cause fights among ourselves.
SSPPF is now a way to help SPLM to advance the idea of patriotism in our citizens should the party agree that this is a good initiative to make our citizens love their country more than themselves than we are able to say yes to the new idea or even collaborate with party so that we build a prosperous country. There is no ideology that is stuck and when you do not make progress you evaluate new ideas and build on them.
I take this opportunity to thank our President H.E. Gen Salva Kiir Mayaradit for his tiresome quest for peace despite the naked truth that war went into areas where it should not have expanded like Peaceful Western Equatoria and my effort was mostly to reverse this also and I thank him for is amnesty offers and continued reconciliation efforts.. Hence I give my unequivocal support to the President as a brother whom I have worked with before in solving such issues and I am more than ready again to join hands together to achieve a genuine peace from within. I would like to thank others who worked tirelessly to make sure peace starts to prevail in Equatoria from their support to me and their discussion with me such as HE VP James Wani Igga, Ambassador James Morgan, Ambassador Jimmy Makuach (who stand here bedside me now) and Governor Major Gen Patrick Zamoi plus many others.
Long the live the dream of patriotic South Sudan citizens,
Long Live the Republic of South Sudan.
Thank you all.
Hon. Eng. Charles Barnaba Kisanga
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