Bad Peace is Better than a Good War: The case of Khartoum Peace Agreement (KPA)
By James Thon Atem Ayiei, Juba, South Sudan
Saturday, August 18, 2018 (PW) — Let me start with the quote of Late Martin Luther King, Jr, Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. This freelance writer will bring to you the highlights of the presidency statements and his personal observation toward the Khartoum Peace Agreement (KPA).
South Sudan as the only resourceful nation within the region fell into a war of power struggle within the ruling party Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 2013, the war continued until a peace agreement was signed between the government and oppositions groups, in the process of its implementation, another war broke out in the presidential palace which is commonly known as J1. The clash that came to be known as “J1 dog fight”, more lives were lost, properties lost and thousands displaced again
The Khartoum Peace Agreement is the end of war in the Republic of South Sudan as the trio-H.E. President Salva Kiir, H.E. FVP Gen. Taban Deng Gai and H.E. VP Dr. Wani Igga in their recent addresses to the citizens of South Sudan who want PEACE more than anyone in the whole world. This spirit of peace demonstrated by the presidency is the true definition of good leadership, which is the most desired trait of leaders in the entire world.
On August 15th, 2018 the presidency met at J1 with the 32 governors and other constitutional post holders. H.E President Salva Kiir urged the state governors and lawmakers to go home and popularize the peace agreement in their constituencies. The president also briefed the 32 governors that 14 governors will have to step aside for the opposition groups who will have 14 governors as part of the Khartoum Peace Agreement power sharing arrangements.
He urged those who will lose their positions not to pick up arms and rebel against the people of South Sudan who have suffered so much. The president also reiterated his earlier remarks, saying the current peace agreement marks the end of war and rebellions in the country.
These remarks followed after the president’s address to the SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY (SPLA) the national army of the Republic of South Sudan where he urged the national army to welcome and embrace their counterparts in the opposition with open hearts. This is the spirit we want from all the respective top leaders representing the opposition parties for our country to be in total peace and development.
The FVP, H.E. Gen. Taban Deng Gai called on the state governors to seriously engage the people at the grassroots on peace and reconciliation initiatives aimed at mending the fractured relations among communities. The FVP urged the state governors and other constitutional post holders to be ready to build a strong SPLM party that will be ready to usher the country into the era of peace and development.
The FVP further stressed that it is time for the citizens to learn from their past mistakes and embrace each other in a bid to pull the robe of development together.
The VP, H.E Dr. James Wani Igga, says the agreement will allow the citizens to have breathing space for them to pick up tools to develop the country. The VP also appealed to the citizens to denounce the culture of violence and adopt the culture of peace for the good of the nation.
Despite the presidency call for peace and unity of the citizens, some of the opposition leaders especially those who compose the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and Former Detainees (G-10) are busy disregarding the Khartoum Peace Agreement as a bad peace as if the war that they are fighting with thousands of South Sudanese dying is a good war. Making the citizens in the grassroots to think that the peace agreement will not hold water, which in actual sense is very dangerous for the nation building.
Therefore, allow me at this juncture to remind the opposition leaders who are adamant to accept the peace they regard to be a bad peace and the war they regard to be a good war has come to an end finally.
They have to direct their members; forces and supporters to embrace peace and unity as the presidency in the country have set the pace. I equally extend my reminder to the rest of the citizens of South Sudan across the world to embrace peace and whole-heartedly applaud the presidency for the demonstrated good leadership spirit.
Nevertheless, I would like to summarize with these few questions; Is there a bad peace really? What are the traits of Good War? What have we achieved during the four and half years of meaningless war in our country? Hence, what would be the way forward for our nation? Perhaps, in my little understanding about peace, there is no bad peace whatsoever, what matters is the spirit demonstrated by the partiers to make the agreement workable.
As a country we need to think appropriately this time with the current peace in our hands and the future of our generations to come. It’s always a parent’s belief to plan positively the underlying future endeavor of their children, this is how am confident, as South Sudanese in general be it a constitutional holder or an ordinary citizen, we need to join our efforts together in the implementation process by giving necessary support to the parties engaged.
In conclusion, I would like to disagree with those who are adequately preaching negative insights on (KPA) terming it as a bad peace. Peace is not a simple process you can finish in one day, you can build other articles while implementing it. In the other hand, war is expensive and any amount spent during the war is a lost.
The author is a freelance writer & peace advocate and he can be reached on thonatemayiei@gmail.com
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