Dialogue committee official says S. Sudan has “collapsed”

December 19, 2017 (JUBA) – A member of South Sudan’s national dialogue committee has expectedly admitted that the war-torn nation has “collapsed”, citing the displacements, destruction of properties and deaths of innocent civilians due to the country’s ongoing conflict.

Aldo Ajou Deng Akuey, also a member of the Dinka council of elders, said the country was at the point where people are suffering and called on political leaders to come together instead of continuing to make procrastination without breaking the sufferings.

“Seriously speaking South Sudanese have reached the climax in their suffering. Insecurity: political, economic, social, cultural and livelihood have been brought down to earth in every field of humanity. The prove is that more than eighty people have died; two million are internally displaced from their homes, four million have left the country to neighbouring countries and beyond and six million are starving and dying of related disease,” wrote Akuey on Monday.

He added, “The real conclusion underlines that the country has truly collapsed, rating the inflation to over 1050 percent. A quite impossible reverse. This huge disaster only occurred between 2013 and 2017. The cry of the people is unanimous: Peace now! Enough”.

The official, who is also the chairperson of the specialized committee for human rights and constitutional affairs in the Upper House of parliament, said it was time to end the war and bring peace in the country.

“Peace now, but with great lack of confidence and mistrust of leaders by the public, the mediators, Troika, IGAD, AU and UN, express skepticism that the ARCSS High-Level Revitalization Forum, (HLRF), may fail the warning that this is the last chance available for peace in order to bail out the country and its people from the deadly disaster”, he added.

Akuey’s comments follow statements from the European Union and the Troika nations in which they warned anti-peace elements with sanctions if they continue obstructing durable peace in the country.

While addressing reporters in the capital, Juba on Sunday after meeting the cabinet affairs minister, the ambassador of the Royal Norwegian embassy, representing the European Union, said the international community has a high expectation in the country’s leadership in the High-Level Revitalization Forum of the agreement.

“On the side of the international community we have made clear to the minister that the leaders of the country will be judged on their actions, not on their words and that there will be consequences and costs for those who want to spoil the process,” said Lars Andersen.

“This is a critical moment in which decisive action can be taken for the benefit of the well-being of the people of South Sudan”, he added.

Andersen said they expect the concrete outcome of the forum that there will be a secession of hostilities, an unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the people in need and that there will be space for everybody who wants to build the country to participate in the discussions on what kind of country South Sudan wanted to be like.

The representative of the Troika countries, Ambassador Geert Geut said they will closely watch the HLRF taking place in Addis Ababa.

“We will be watching the process closely, we will support the process and we will stand ready to take action on those that are working against peace,” said Geut.

He added, I don’t want to leave any doubt on the determination of the International community to sanction those who want to spoil the peace process.”

Meanwhile, the director of international cooperation in South Sudan’s ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation John Andruga Duku reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the delegation of the troika and EU to achieving peace in the country.

“The government is committed to seeing that the delegation going there led by the minister will go with open-minded and be going there with the idea that finds a solution to the long conflict in the Republic of South Sudan”, said Duku.

On Monday, the IGAD Council of Ministers threatened to take punitive measures against spoilers of South Sudan’s peace process.

The regional bloc, in a statement, vowed to take necessary actions against individuals and groups that spoil or derail the revitalization process from progressing.

The five-day forum provides a unique opportunity to bring IGAD, regional and international parties together towards ending the conflict in South Sudan with the help of stakeholders on the negotiation table.

(ST)