By Yien Lam,
Opinion.
Oct 8, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — I would like to educate you with regime intransigent if not reminding. Believe it for a certain, this has been a tactics if not a norms for this regime to hold everything back for peace to progress. The regime has been intentional to hinder the peace by any mean is possible. Therefore, this became the pattern that it uses as political ploy to mislead the public. But in reality, it does not hold water publicly despite the fact that its tactic has been on and off since the beginning of negotiation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this case, I absolutely think the government is juggling with fire that the IGAD and international community do not surely know. Its uncompromising in all grounds that would have paved the way to the peace settlement to the warring parties became the issue from the very start of the peace. This has been so since the IGAD signed the cessation of hostility with it and the rebels on 23rd of January this year. This agreement was thought and intended to subdue crises. It was initially viewed as the breaking point for the problem to be resolved. This was the hope for peace loving people in south Sudan if not in the world. But the intransigent regime has not allowed what supposed to be a genuine peace by violating cessation of hostility, refusing to withdraw foreign troops and insisting to keep the kiir on as the interim leader.
In this issue despite the effort being putted forward by the IGAD, the regime and its ally were able to defy the world and sneak their troops in for the reason to violate the cessation of hostility signed in Addis Ababa in above mentioned date by attacking rebels’ positions in Leer, Gatdiang and countless others in greater Upper Nile including those who fled from Juba via lake state in February. These were the clear violations of cessation of hostility by the government and IGAD seems not to be serious about it. In all of these cases, however, the rebels responded only as self-defense. When you come to the judgment as the rational individual, who do you think could bear the blame and responsibility for that matter if any?
To be frank though, regime should be held accountable for anything because it was the ones that intensely chose the war than the peace in order to recapture the places that were held by the rebels. This was the intent of the government to violate the cease fire. If that happens as it had, what kind of peace should be achieved while the government keeps weighing vicious attack against the rebels held territories? Should a healthy person thinks for the peace while the government that supposed to respect cessation of hostility does not? Probably not! This regime does not need peace as demonstrated by its activities above. There is no doubt about it as people should have thought. It does not respect what so ever to other jurisdiction like IGAD.It reveres not the law of any kind. That was why it violated the ceasefire. It judges other rules as its own in which the government power solely base on one person. If Kiir’s regime was aware about outside world, it should have done what is best for the people of South Sudan than choosing what is worse for them. Due to heedless thoughts, his sycophants thwarted and violated the cessation of hostility openly without being questioned. This was done knowingly because the regime knew that the organization is toothless and it got M7’s back. This was pure and simple and continue to be the case up to now.
Undoubtedly in this case, I shamelessly heard the regime officials saying that the rebels were the once that do not like the peace. Would that be a good argument for them giving the above facts? For me as an individual, I would not accept that argument at all. It would indeed lack a logical reasoning for my understanding of the peace in Addis Ababa. This would be a complete rubbish in the view of many if not majority. People like such will be considered as blind-minded. Cessation of the hostility was not signed yesterday. It was indeed signed before Ayod, Leer, Koch, Gadding, Nasir and countless other were captured by the regime. If that is so as we all know, who was really violating the peace process and indeed being uncompromising in this context? I leave this for you if you are not judgeless like the regime sympathizers. To tell you truth though, if you are out there in which I think you do, blame not the rebels for that matter. The regime is the only one that is blameworthy in this problem due to its intransigence of any issue that concerning peace in our country. The reason for the regime intransigent is simple. It is being backed by the Uganda president. This is pure and simple, and can be doubted by folks who hear through their eyes instead of ears. In this respect, who do you think is responsible for bringing the people in South Sudan? Is it the folks who are being pursued daily and only act for self-defense or the regime that chased the rebel for the intention of “flashing them out” of the country as the regime sympathizers used often? Be the judge if you are not dead walking person like the regime cronies.
Secondly, the regime has also been intransigent by not letting UPDF exit the country. If that is the case, how anyone would possibly think of peace while UPDF is running the show in south Sudanese land? Believe it for certain folks, UPDF factor is an issue that contributed greatly to the problems of our nation because kiir and his likes do not want Uganda troops withdrawal in the country.It is not their interests to do so. If that is so as IGAD knows it, how would peace be achieved in the country governed by foreign leader? be the judge,and believe it or not, kiir and his president yoweri are not aligning to bring peace in South Sudan. Their intransigence to peace is being seen clearly. In this scenario whether you like it or not, kiir is an incompetent leader whose job is to bring yoweri to do the job that he does not know how to do. This has been seen and only adds fuel to the fire for the peace to survive. This in fact, makes the matter worse in the country than ceasing it. Not only that, kiir has shown his inability of being the leader of the country. He does not care for the people of South Sudan than his dictatorial position that he holds. That was why he brought in Mercenaries intentionally to kill his own people indiscriminately by using cluster bomb. If he is the president of all people in the country not his own kin, he should not have used a Cluster bomb to one ethnic group. He should have thought wisely as the leader of the country not a leader of his own kin and position. If you are out there hoping for the peace in Kiir’s South Sudan, drop it. The man who gets advice and military help from the dictator cannot make peace in the country. It would be better for you to have second thought about your future. This man has been advised to the maximum by his mentor to use whatever necessary to control individuals in which I sincerely believe he deluded him unknowingly. To add the fuel into fire, kiir and M7 purposefully used ban weapon to annihilate Nuer in particular. If you’re sane person, can you talk peace with a person who used deadly weapon to his own people without real pressure outside? Probably not because he does not hear anything on earth other than himself. The only thing he hears clearly that I can think of, is thunderstorm as long as he stills sharing cup of wine with his boss. He has no problem and will continue to bluff the IGAD for a meantime until his problem approaches home in which I surely believe.
Thirdly, how can peace be achieved while the regime has been hanging on with their gun loaded by saying the interim leader will remain Kiir? If you think judiciously, how would that sit well with the people whose folks were killed by this regime? Can anyone here agree with this point if individual really needs peace in this country? I believe not because having him in power as he has been will be the recipe of more disaster in which nobody would want to see in our country. December 15, 16 and 17 were enough. There is no single person in freedom fighters that would naively signed any document that condone kiir’s past and bring him as the interim president. This will not be the case on the peace process because we all know what he will do with that power. Am I right? If I do, why would a rationalize person who knew this from very beginning do such a thing while most people now know what this regime does. If that is the case, let us not waste our time talking about the peace while the regime does not want the peace to be in our country. The regime intransigent is paramount. Anyone who denies this may have medical issue with his/her mind. This is very simple in any case. If the regime wants peace, it should compromise the mentioned issues and that would only be the way that could bring peace in our country. Nonetheless Betting with copra without taking its venom out would not be a wise idea. One needs to be aware of anything.
Overall, if the regime wants peace in South Sudan, it should respect the cessation of hostility, accept the withdrawal of Uganda troops and wish kiir not to be interim leader. Without abandoning those, peace cannot come and will never be in South Sudan as long as the regime remain intransigent as such along with its ally M7who has been in fact, a secretive leader of ours. Singing the song of Peace with kiir alone without his boss in Uganda will be like a food without salt. If an IGAD is really serious in which I doubt about the peace in south Sudan, it must involve kiir’s mentor not as the mediator rather than a direct negotiator in order for peace to yield fruit in country if that may be the case. Otherwise, it will be endless negotiation with Kiir without his boss being acknowledged in face to face talk.
The author is concerned South Sudanese and can be reached by Lam981@hotmail.com
