This senseless violence in S.Sudan must end now

It is distressing that South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, is staring at a return to full-scale civil war despite efforts by the international community to pacify it after nearly two years of violence. The fighting between soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied with Vice President Riek Machar, threatens to escalate and return the nascent republic to another round of violent clashes.

After two weeks of tension, direct confrontation between the two forces occurred last Thursday in Juba, the country’s capital.

With Juba enveloped in senseless violence, the East African region should be ready for any eventuality, given South Sudan culture of solving political differences through the barrel gun.

In the past five days alone, the new clashes have claimed the lives of over 300 soldiers, displaced tens of civilians and caused massive destruction. A Chinese peacekeeper is among the victims.

The international community, particularly the African Union (AU), cannot simply sit back and watch as violence in South Sudan, one of the East African Community (EAC) member countries, continue to claim lives of innocent civilians.

The United Nations, AU and regional bodies must come out forcefully to help quell the spiralling violence and restore peace, unity and sanity in the country.

We say so because South Sudan’s neighbours have suffered the consequence of instability in that country.

This is why they played a key role in negotiating for its independence. Later, they brokered peace when fresh civil war broke out in 2013.

Longest civil war

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011 as the outcome of a 2005 agreement that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. Its independence was widely and jubilantly celebrated as a triumph of peace over war after a two-decade civil strife. But the warring leaders have squandered the world’s goodwill.

Signs of friction within the governing SPLM party came in July, 2013 when President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka—the country’s largest group, sacked his Deputy President, Mr Machar, who is from the second largest community, the Nuer.

For some time, there has been hope that the pair could be leveraged to do the right thing by the threat of an arms embargo.

But the threat is not working. It is time for the Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo to prevent further atrocities against civilians. Assembling of troops by various political groups has been one of the major factors behind the problem.

In August, 2015, the seemingly endless perils appeared to finally reach a promising turning point with the signing of a cease-fire that saw the warring leaders form a government of national unity.

However, their troops haven’t been disbanded and unified into one force under a single command. Each side has stockpiles of weapons which are readily put to use whenever one party feels aggrieved.

To end this, the starting point should be to disband and disarm various troops and put them under one command.

Kiir and Machar must tackle the critical challenges facing their country, such as searing poverty, hunger and disease, high level of illiteracy, poor infrastructure and massive unemployment. These two leaders need to know they owe it to Africa, more so to citizens of the EAC, to return to peace so that together, we move on to build a prosperous bloc.