Peace Accord in Trouble-what does it take to fix it?
By Kor Tot
May 29, 2007 — There is no doubt that the Navisha accord, most commonly known as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), is a victory to both the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP). But when victory comes about as a result of a negotiated settlement a much harder work than the one done on the battlefield by foot soldiers usually follows. The gallant forces of the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) have done their share of duty and will probably continue to do so should there be a need to do it all over again. Southern Sudan as a region is now in policy phase of the long years struggle for freedom, equality and justice for all Sudanese people. This policy phase of the war requires among others a visionary determination to advance human development through moral leadership on the part of the SPLM.
National Agenda
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement is a national treasure that Sudan has never seen in half century and that said, its successful implementation is the most difficult challenge the SPLM has ever got to face in its twenty-four years history and a test of leadership among the moment’s cadres as well. Getting their partners in the National Congress Party to fully cooperate in the implementation of the CPA requires leadership that maintains visibility on issues of national importance. The first Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, Salva Kiir is currently taking the right steps to gain national prominence by announcing an all Darfur rebels’ conference in Juba and appointing Rev. Clement Janda as his point man on Darfur crises. This shows the world that Mr. Kiir is taking the moral high ground by showing his desire to free the people of Darfur, like southerners who until as late as 2005 were being brutalized by the same regime, are now subjected to acts of genocide in the hand of military industrial complex of the national Islamic front. This is only a starting point; Mr. Kiir has yet to ensure that the proposed conference actually takes place and that various splinter groups of Darfur rebels reach some sort of agreement on a unified position before the next rounds of talks with the Government of Sudan.
Development Agenda for the Government of Southern Sudan
The people of southern Sudan and other marginalized areas will not realize peace dividends until the current southern leadership carefully craft a development policy that “brings towns to people and people to towns”, as Dr Garang once said. All this comes down to what Mr. Kiir wants to see Southern Sudan look like under his watch by 2011. You certainly don’t want to be running around as a president of a country that can’t even feed its own people. In the absence of a development policy that improves the lives of the people across southern Sudan and other marginalized areas, Mr. Kiir Would be seen as an inexperienced military commander who would not have risen to the presidency of southern Sudan by any democratic mean had it not been for the demise of long time leader of Sudan People Liberation Movement, Dr John Garang. It is now evident that Juba and other major southern cities are getting more and more crowd and this influx of population may continue to rise until some of the current development programs are shifted to suburban and rural areas. No doubt this cross platform development may require corporate style kind of management and governors with can-attitude as chief executives of southern States.
The Defense of CPA
When the sniper who is currently gunning down the Comprehensive Peace Agreement clause-by-clause can no longer be stopped by negotiations and things get nowhere but to the destination of Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, Mr. Kiir will have no choice but to show his muscles. Is he doing enough work out to make sure he is ready to take President Bashir head-on when it comes a time for confrontations? This brings us down to the capability and readiness of the gallant forces of Sudan People Liberation Army whose heroism has brought the whole Sudan to this point in history. Creating a cabinet level department to be led by a civilian may be an option to consider for upgrading the capability and total readiness of SPLA forces. Mr. Kiir has a moral obligation to defend the CPA if all else fail as he and colleagues rightly did during the last two decades – a stronger SPLA is one way to do that.
Curving Corruption in the Government of Southern Sudan
Corruption is a wide spread phenomenon spanning all over the world but the majority of corruption victims are concentrated in developing world. Southern has had enough damage done to it by the longest running civil war in Africa that just ended in 2005 and adding an impact of corruption to that may be severely devastating. Removing Arthur Akuen from the ministry of finance for the government of Southern Sudan is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end. You may remove one bad apple not knowing that this same apple might have infected many more apples in the bag. Clean-up work must definitely follow now that the big guy is caught and that requires moral leadership on part of Mr. Kiir as the process may involve hunting down members of his own party or even relatives in some cases. The anti-corruption commission that Mr. Kiir has recently created is the right fix for this kind of problem but it should be staffed with people who know their stuffs not those who have no idea how to catch a thief.
At the onset leadership is more than management or authority. It is about taking the moral high ground in issues that have considerable impact on the public good of the people you lead. Taking the people of southern Sudan to “promised land” is one of these issues and there is no better place to do this than in Khartoum where the sniper seems to be hiding. Dr Riek Machar who is yet to prove he can do things right may help run day-to-day activities in the government of southern Sudan while the First vice president of the republic takes care of things that may lead to total independence of Southern Sudan comes 2011. If all goes well, Mr. Kiir will down in history as “Mosses” of Southern Sudan.
* Kor Tot is based in Lincoln, NE USA. He can be reached at [email protected]. For more about the author, visit www.kortot.com