By Ephraim Modi Duku Sokiri
South Sudan activist has urged the government never to take sides while finding a solution to resolve Sudan conflict.
As a proxy to the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), South Sudan President Salva Kiir is to spearhead the parleys between the two combatant rivalries in the Republic of Sudan along with the governments of Kenya and Djibouti.
The Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, emphasized on impartiality in conveying the binary moralities in Sudan’s political disputes to arrive at a peace deal.
“Juba needs to be neutral towards the warring parties in Sudan. Juba needs not to take side with one of the warring parties as a mediator,” the activist urged.
Yakani underscored that they had seen the government of Sudan demonstrating that responsibility of impartiality when “we were in crisis in South Sudan,”.
“We feel that the government of South Sudan does not oppose the Sudan government and why are they embracing all the warring parties in South Sudan by meeting them in order to find a solution to their crisis in nonviolent way.”
He challenged the South Sudan leaders to adapt to Sudan’s efforts that were wielded to triumph of the revitalized peace deal in 2018 for South Sudan in Khartoum.
“Similar reasonability, Sudan demonstrated in finding political solutions in our crisis through revitalization of the agreement, is the same responsibility South Sudan should display to the warring parties in Sudan,” said Yakani.
CEPO’s executive director questioned the involvement of South Sudan in allowing special alignments of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)’s representatives to hold a presser in Juba; he called for inclusivity of all the warring parties.
“Why should the government of South Sudan have a link or a dialogue or have greater space for representatives of Hemedti (leader of the RSF) to come to Juba and hold a press conference? It is unacceptable,” he argued.
“So, with due respect and honor, South Sudan should take the responsibility of reaching out to all the warring parties in Sudan and bringing them to a mediation table as assigned by IGAD,”
He reiterated the need to form a distinctive committee comprised of the South Sudan government to partner with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in spawning accord transversely to persuade foreign interests in finding a solution.
“There is a need to appoint a special envoy of South Sudan to Sudan’s crisis, so that the special envoy will work with the ministry of foreign affairs to generate consensus across the globe within the constituency of IGAD, AU, Arab League and the West to have interest in Sudan’s crisis,” Yakani recapped.
He however commended the government of South Sudan in arriving to meet with delegates from Sudan to find unison to their variances.
“We have seen positive development from the efforts of South Sudan where we are witnessing Sudanese warring parties sending special envoys to South Sudan to meet President Salva Kiir Mayardit and express their readiness to take over the peace mediation,”.
Activist Yakani underlined the need for the warring parties in Sudan to adhere to the ceasefire agreement that they reached in Jeddah…saying there is a need to respect ceasefire, respect protection of civilians and stop the military approach to resolving their political crisis.
Yakani slanted Sudan’s key principals on the threats of navy as it smashes more on the lives of innocent civilians and damages infrastructure and properties.
“The military approach as we see today is leading to incidence of occurrence of rape of women, or use of rape as a weapon of war, commitment of human rights atrocities which one day may amount to a crime, destruction of public and individual property, and loss of lives of innocent citizens in various towns of Sudan,”.
He also appealed to IGAD’s leadership to be proactive in coordinating to stop the political crisis in Sudan.