IGAD threatens to label non-signatories as spoilers of peace
November 16, 2018 (ADDIS ABABA) – The IGAD Council of Ministers threatened to label as peace “spoilers” the opposition groups that refused to sign the revitalized agreement.
The decision was taken in a meeting held in Addis Ababa on Saturday 16 November with the participation of the IGAD foreign ministers.
The Council “directs the IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan to reach out to the South Sudanese stakeholders and any warring groups who are not signatories to the R-ARCSS to join in its implementation; Otherwise, they shall be labelled spoilers of the peace process,” says a statement released after the end of the meeting.
It is not clear if the move would be limited to exclude the holdout groups from the post-conflict reconstruction efforts or will further impose sanctions on its leaders.
The non-signatory groups concerned by the call are the National Salvation Front (NAS) of Gen. Thomas C. Swaka, People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) chaired by Hakim Dario, National Democratic Movement (NDM) led by Emanuel Aban and the United Democratic Republic Alliance (UDRA) of Gatwech K. Thich and South Sudan National Movement for Change (SSNMC) of Vakindi L. Unvu.
In a meeting held on 30 September 2018, the holdout groups elected Thomas Cirilo Sawaka as a leader of their faction of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and asserted they “will continue to work hard to attain a genuine, sustainable and lasting peace for the people of South Sudan and to establish the rule of law and justice in our country”.
The SSOA Sawaka calls for a genuine federal system in South Sudan and also says they want to limit the meddling of Sudan and Uganda in the implementation process as they are seen as allies of President Salva Kiir.
However, the holdout groups did not make public concrete proposals to add to the revitalized agreement. Only the PDM of Hakim Dario released a number of proposals to promote its initial call for a three-province federal system.
The IGAD and the international community fear that the existence of rebel-held pockets in the country will obstruct the implementation of the security arrangement in the country.
Also, the absence of regional and international initiatives to bring them to sign the peace deal would encourage the government and the other signatories to carry out attacks on the rebel-held areas and lead t the continuation of violence in the country.
The opening session of the meeting was attended by representatives of the UN chief, the European Union, the IGAD Partners Forum, the Troika and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The meeting urged the IGAD Secretariat and the IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan to ensure that all the remaining implementation mechanisms and institutions are set up as soon as possible.
It also requested the South Sudanese government to allocate more resources for the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
(ST)