S.Sudan’s Nuer Council says IGAD-crafted peace deal not genuine
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
November 8, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) –The Nuer Council of Elders said that the IGAD-Plus Compromised Peace Agreement signed to end South Sudan conflict doesn’t embrace the interest of South Sudanese.
The agreement is seen as a major breakthrough toward the practical implementation of a peace accord signed in August aimed to end a nearly two years long conflict in Africa’s youngest nation.
However in a statement it sent to Sudan Tribune the Nuer Council of Elders says the deal is not an all-inclusive that wasn’t owned by all South Sudanese.
“A number of key stakeholders in the conflict have been excluded, something which undermines any efforts to bring about a genuine and durable peace in South Sudan’’ It said.
It said the two rival factions opted to sign the deal which in essence restores the status quo, while both were the ones which triggered the war that led to killings of tens of thousands of people.
The East African bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has been mediating the South Sudan peace process since the country plagued in to conflict in December 2013.
The group further went on to saying that the IGAD mediation was biased and has worked out a peace deal in its own interest and the Troika countries, and not one for the South Sudan people.
“We find the peace deal a complete failure by the mediators and we demand that it be revisited with a view to incorporating the positions of all parties and stakeholders in the conflict” the statement said.
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“This peace deal cannot be implemented and is not sustainable, especially since it has not addressed the deep rooted causes of the conflict” it added.
The council demanded that the deal should be brought back to the people of South Sudan themselves, particularly to the Nuer and Dinka community leaders.
Despite a number of appeals over the integrity of the peace process, the group said IGAD has however gave deaf ears and went ahead rewarding the SPLM party 93 % power sharing arrangement against 7% to other parties.
The group appealed on the United Nations and the United States government, to re-examine the way the IGAD-led peace process has been conducted.
The final Security Arrangement between South Sudan warring factions was signed on Tuesday after 14-day extensive discussions in Addis Ababa on planning the implementation of the signed agreements.
According to the agreement, the two sides will deploy a total 4,830 shared forces in Juba, 3,420 for Juba and 1,410 for the SPLM in opposition. The South Sudanese government will, as stipulated in the deal, get 650 presidential guards while SPLM-IO will have 350.
All other security forces in Juba will have to be stationed at least 25 kilometres outside the capital as part of the permanent cease-fire deal.
A total of 1,820 guards and military police to be shared by the two sides will also be deployed and with a unified command to decide on their status, encampment and deployment.
The parties have also agreed for the deployment of 3,000 joint integrated police 1,500 each to guard security of Juba. Moreover they will deploy a total of 2,400 joint integrated police 400 to each town in Bor, Malakal, and Bentiu.
(ST)