IGAD members wrestling with peace and their political interests in South Sudan
By Kurthii Manyuat, Beijing, China
Friday, June 29, 2018 (PW) — In 2013 South Sudan had been dipped in to the worst violence and IGAD body (inter-governmental authority for development) equipped with necessary tools took up the stage to remove South Sudan out from the armed violence. However, this rescue mission project countered challenges of political interests of the IGAD members themselves.
According to them (The IGAD mediators), any peace that overweight their own country‘s interests, should automatically be compromised and thrown away. This also explains that the five years of relentless suffering in South Sudan were used by IGAD members for exploration of peace that would address their country’s selfish interests and has non attachment to South Sudanese opprobrium situation.
For instance, Sudan is one of the IGAD member country that act at the limelight as genuine peace mediator for South Sudan while at the shady it is the real scoundrel, the hard working devil determined to wreck South Sudan apart should their economic and political interests be subsided at the mediation table. Sudan was determined even to rob should there be the need in order to course perpetual suffering for South Sudan. And this simply because they badly wanted the oil that broke away with South Sudan during independence in 2011.
During the eve of South Sudan independence in 2011, Sudan government was half-crazy due to overwhelming decision made by South Sudanese, to vote separation over unity. The independence was viewed as a deprivation of supremacy and wealth by northerners. The fertile agricultural land of the south and the cheap labor force by South Sudanese in Khartoum all were going away but above all, the worse tragedy that traumatized Sudanese government was the fact that South Sudan seceded and broke away with the oilfields. The agitations prompted President Omer al Bashir to use all his case words that were reachable in his memory against South Sudan government and its people.
Omer al Bashir prophesized that “this people will kill themselves and they will come back.” Sudanese President Omer al Bashir was certainly aware about the depth of division among South Sudan themselves because he himself dug that depth during the 21 years of SPLM struggles in the bush. The tactics of dividing South Sudan and use of us against us by His government did a great harm not only on social fabric and relationships among South Sudanese communities but also on their elites. This strategy succeeded and denied south Sudanese many victories against Sudanese government during year of struggle and eventually left us with remnants of stigmatism and intolerance.
Before declaration of South Sudan independence In 2011, President of Sudan Omer al Bashir accurately gauged that war would be inevitable among South Sudanese themselves Due to the very fact that government of South Sudan was a collusion and collaboration of SPLM revolutionary party together with President Bashir former militias and other bush thugs who used bush as away of living clearly indicted a war rainbow. Bashir was also aware of the huge number of arms he once discriminated into the hands of South Sudanese civilians during his counterinsurgency policy against SPLA movement.
With all his accurate predictions, Khartoum was hopeful that by the time war start to ignite in juba, they (government of Sudan) would be exactly at the doorpost with both illegal and legal main to break in to and pick what ever value to their government.— the oil. The Sudanese illegal mains of breaking in to South Sudan had already been applied through the aggressive encroachment by their arm forces at the boarder, their de facto hostage of Abyei area by ankle and the invasion of other places at the boarder such as Panthou.
While the legal forefront of breaking in had just started last Monday along with the fulfillment of president Bashir prophecy (the will kill them selves and they will come back). He (President Omer al Bashir) miraculously transformed himself into a sant and receive South Sudanese leaders (President Salva and rebel leader Dr. Riek Machar) under the new unconventional search method for peace introduced by IGAD. Method that requires leaders of South Sudan to tour all the IGAD capital cities in attempt to force breakthrough on their impermeable relationship. The economic emergency of Sudan graciously took up this opportunity and design a peace underpinned by their economic interests.
The Sudanese proposed peace agreement recall on old methods of divide and rule policy, it bluntly suggests that South Sudan should be fragmented in to three plates of regions each to accommodate the three expected warlords to be appointed as Vice Presidents. It also went further to suggest that Sudan arm force should be permitted to provide security role for oilfields while their engineers be flocking into southern oilfields and to rehabilitate the obliterated oil facilities. This according to my own opinion is legal break in and to control the source of economy through the signature of the South Sudan President.
If Sudan argues that they wished stability and prosperity for South Sudan, should there had been a genuine sympathy from Sudanese government, sympathy that might have been triggered by pain and suffering of South Sudanese people, Khartoum should have proposed peace deal in the years back, because the killings rate had been constant for five years. But the fact that president Omer al Bashir’s nerves defy emotional appeal from any suffering human beings, he chose clapping for the death of South Sudanese While playing Hollywood role on the mediation table.
It is unquestionable that Sudan was and still a chief engineer and a nurturer of South Sudan conflict. They intruded and supported regime change chantings in acquisition of bringing a government that would give them the Sudanese more benefit and leverages over South Sudan. But unfortunately, it turns out that the war engineered by them unexpectedly took a long ride and the repercussions back fire and injured their own economy.
The value of Sudanese currency had took inflation pathway few months ago and the pipelines tariffs plus other unscrupulous earnings from South Sudan have been largely minimized by the on going war. Those were the few known source of income that makeup their economy and allowed them to sponsor wars in the region. The economic emergency suggested only option for their survival and that is to patch up anything like an agreement for South Sudanese leaders in exchange of oil.
The author, Kurthii Manyuat, is a student of petroleum engineering, China University of Petroleum in Beijing, China and can be reached via his email: kurmanyuat@gmail.com
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