Literally, South Sudan as a country craves peace; yet the citizens are armed to the teeth with illicit light weapons and small arms, which only breeds instability.
Not that the absence of light weapons and small arms proliferation among the civil community automatically translates to peace, but it brings in relative calm.
An advance by authorities in Aweil Town, on Tuesday to mount a one-day surprise disarmament exercise, riding the illegal owners of 79 firearms would have been a national program.
However, as the situation demanded, the local government at that level had to take the bull by the horns. To their success, security officers swung to action and searched homes for illegal firearms and 58 light riffles, 8 PKMs and 8 pistols were collected as a result.
Though schools, businesses and public institutions were temporarily closed down, it was the endpoint that mattered, since the exercise was intended to bring peace.
As the proliferation of light weapons and small arms by civilians is tantamount to insecurity, it’s crucial that the government communes a national agenda.
Taking note of the current situation of the arms embargo, which has impeded the deployment of Necessary Unified Forces which would handily accommodate such programs, a voluntary preface would kick-start now.
However, disbarment goes hand in hand with setbacks, in most times due to isolation and drawbacks by other leaders. For instance, in 2012, the then Jonglei state governor, Kuol Manyang Juuk, collected over 4000 guns in an exercise.
But because Kuol Manyang was left alone in the arena, more weapons trickled in from other states. A similar exercise was conducted in Juba, what happened; more guns came back, even from the stores which later escalated violence in the city.
Every citizen cries about insecurity in the country but nobody seems to be willing to surrender illegal guns for the sake of peace that the most crave for. The guns spit fire which burns whoever crosses its line.
More guns, more violence; Peace is pursued and embraced, not fought.