The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has not done enough to sustain a high level of engagement with the parties’ leaders to the revitalised peace agreement.

It has been over four years since the agreement was signed, and citizens believe the IGAD should have engaged the parties in a direct discussion to address the challenges slowing peace implementation.

The delay by IGAD in addressing those challenges urgently has now brought disagreements among the parties, and this seems to be deteriorating the political situation in the country.

The role of the regional bloc is now highly needed at this critical moment when there are so many disagreements over the contentious issues between the principal parties. The IGAD Special Envoy to South Sudan was supposed to intervene to address the issues such as unified command a year ago. The envoy has the mandate to call for the IGAD Head of State and governments’ meeting if he cannot address the issue at hand.

It is very important for  IGAD to always act promptly to address issues in the member states before they get out of hand. IGAD should be like West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, which does not always delay responding to a situation.

The change of the IGAD chair should not be a question because we are all aware that the ousted former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, who was the IGAD chair, was subsequently replaced by the leader of the Sudan Sovereign Council Lt Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, as per the IGAD Protocol.

So, the IGAD member states should now give their full support to Gen. Al-Burhan to enable him to fully oversee the implementation of the revitalised peace agreement.

Nevertheless, the IGAD envoy to South Sudan is the first person who should always intervene if there is an issue of disagreement between the parties. The IGAD heads of state can not just act directly if the envoy does not bring any issue to their attention.  

The current disagreement between the principal parties is not healthy enough for the sustainability of peace in the country, and this demands an urgent intervention of the IGAD.

Yesterday, the IGAD Executive Secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu on Twitter, said he was gravely concerned by the escalation of the situation in South Sudan, and called on the leaders to restore calm, respect the terms of the peace agreement. Dr. Workneh called on the IGAD Assembly to use their leverage on the parties to restore peace.

Although this was a good statement from one of the IGAD leaders, it has not done enough to help the parties reach a consensus. The IGAD was well aware that the peace process was moving slowly due to some critical issues in the agreement, but it has been hesitant to assist the parties in resolving the issues. The unified command and graduation of forces have been the most contentious issues that IGAD has not acted promptly to resolve.

The issue of unified command has been overdue since last year when the regional bloc should have resolved it. The IGAD should have maintained a high level of engagement with the leaders of the parties to the resurrected peace agreement, particularly on issues on which the leaders could not agree.