Southern Sudan armies sign new agreement
Jan 11, 2006 (NAIROBI) — There was fanfare as hundreds of Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) soldiers witnessed the signing of a much-anticipated agreement uniting the two rival forces in the Southern Sudan on Tuesday.
“This unity of the South makes me tremble!” shouted Maj-Gen Paulino Matip, the Chief of Staff of the SSDF, who spoke after appending his signature to the unity pact that will see his forces join SPLA.
Together, they will form one SPLA united army in the South, in accordance with the provisions of the comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in Nairobi last year.
Maj-Gen Matip said if anyone thought they would use him and SSDF to destabilise the South, “I have today closed that window”.
“We are not uniting against anybody, tribe or party. We are uniting to develop the whole of Sudan,” said First Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also the President of South Sudan.
“If that is our goal, then everybody must do everything to avoid anything that will divide us,” said Kiir.
He called on the Sudanese to protect both the CPA and the Unity Pact for the South.
Aaron Tuikong, the Chief Executive of the Moi Africa Institute, which facilitated the talks between the two armed groups, said: “Every step of negotiations for us meant a step towards peace and unity in the South. We are, therefore, exceedingly glad to witness this agreement between SPLA and SSDF.”
The peace deal could not have come at a better time. Residents of southern Sudan are coming to terms with the death of Dr John Garang six months ago. Garang perished in a plane crash on July 31 as he returned from an official visit to Uganda, hardly three weeks after officially taking over as Sudanese Vice-President and President of South Sudan.
Power-sharing deal
It was with Garang’s influence that Sudanese President Hassan Omar el Bashir came to the negotiation table to agree on power-sharing after 21 years of war that claimed over 2 million lives.
That Garang died less than a month after taking power and before he could unite warring factions in the south was, perhaps, the most devastating thing that ever happened to the southerners.
Before he died, Garang had conducted several meetings at the Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT), Mbagathi, in which he sought to bring together all warring factions from South Sudan.
But the silver lining in the cloud of Garang’s death is that Kiir and his group have rekindled hope among their people by giving peace a chance, hence cementing the process that Garang started.
In the agreement, the SPLA and SSDF, who met in Juba for three days from January 6, will back the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. They committed themselves to “upholding and defending the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and its full implementation”.
In signing the agreement, the two forces said they were motivated by their “desire for peace, reconciliation and unity among the people of Southern Sudan”.
The two sides expressed their determination to end all forms of conflict and hostilities among themselves to usher in a “new era of hope, stability and sustainable development in Southern Sudan”.
They expressed the need to build trust and confidence among themselves and to avoid past mistakes that have led to divisions and internecine conflict between themselves and among the people of Southern Sudan in general.
Members of SSDF, led by Gen Matip, commended SPLM for including all forces in the institutions of Government of National Unity to ensure the participation of the southern Sudanese in the affairs of state.
In the agreement, the two sides acknowledged that the southern Sudanese have “one indivisible destiny” and must unite.
The two sides acknowledged the struggle and the immense sacrifices and suffering of their people in defence of their land, freedom, dignity, culture identity and common history.
Unconditional unity
The need for unity was in recognition of “our fallen heroes, heroines and martyrs who paid the ultimate price for the freedom of our people and to ensure that these sacrifices are not in vain,” the agreement said.
In what was dubbed “the Juba Declaration on Unity and Integration,” the two sides committed themselves to “complete and unconditional unity between the SPLA and SSDF”.
They also agreed “to immediately integrate our two forces to form one unified, non-partisan army under the name of SPLA as stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement”.
The agreement endorsed an “immediate and total cessation of all forms of hostilities and to ensure that all forces and persons under their control observe and comply with the declaration”.
The agreement now guarantees freedom of movement of people, goods and services in South Sudan and provides general amnesty covering criminal acts committed during the period of hostilities between the two forces.
By endorsing the agreement, the two sides appealed to armed persons or groups outside the two forces to join the process of unity and reconciliation in order to promote peace, stability and development in South Sudan.
“The unified movement shall mobilise the people of Southern Sudan behind this agreement and to support its implementation,” said the agreement.
The two sides accepted the formation of High Political Committee to oversee the overall implementation of the unity agreement. The committee will be established by the SPLM Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of SPLA in consultation with Maj-Gen Paulino Matip, the Chief of Staff of the SSDF.
The agreement also provides for the creation of a Military Technical Committee consisting of equal numbers from both sides to implement the terms of the declaration.
It shall be established by the SPLM Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLA in consultation with Maj-Gen Matip. The Joint Military Technical Committee will report to the High Political Committee.
(The Standard)