As curtain fell on the two-day people-oriented peace conference that was held in Juba at the Freedom Hall to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Jonglei State and Pibor Administrative Area, one thing stood out; the conference could be one and the last of its kind. This comes after President Salva Kiir parted shot at senior politicians, and warned communities against taking part in another wave of violence.
“Next time you go for fighting I will not come to help you again, and even I will not appoint any committee to go and investigate the fight in the area,’’ said furious Kiir. ‘‘I have decided that any fight that takes place will not be stopped by the police or the military, I will leave you to fight,’’ the President added, crying and wiping tears.
The peace conferences so far held for the umpteenth time are not bearing fruits. Both the government and members of conflict-ravaged communities are losing patience in the process. And even when communities put pen to paper to implement another set of peace agreements; uncertainty hangs on the outcome. And fear lingers that stakeholders may not have smashed the right button. The Monday to Wednesday ‘Peopleto-People’ conference drew together 250 representatives mainly the youth, women, chiefs and opinion leaders from Bor Dinka, Gawaar, Lou Nuer, Murle, and Anyuak.
Local politics
It was dotted with high emotions and reminiscence of blood bath that took hold of Jonglei and Pibor, culminating in insecurity and lack of development. The president blamed politicians for hypocrisy-planting seeds of hate and instigating violence on the ground, while pretending to preach peace in the capital. ‘‘I was crying and wrapping my face [saying] this is not right. Responsible people join hands in fighting and then they come back and pretend before the innocent and poor people? No I cannot accept this,” he warned. It is the same sentiments that are shared by the Vice President Dr James Wani Igga—the man charged with steering peace talks—who blamed the chaos on senior national political officials. The VP also saw beyond just local politics as the triggers of violence. He told off parents against demanding expensive dowry hence fueling cattle theft. ‘‘Stop auctioning your children like cars. The amount of money parents require for dowry is too high and it should be reduced,’’ Igga said.
Myriad of issues
But in their submission, Jonglei team of experts see more than cultural ties and political behaviours. The team, comprising Dr Abraham Nyuon, Buoth Chuol, Gabriel Riam, Dr Kuyang Logo and Dr Mario Awet, tie the insecurity to socio-economic factors in their findings. Such factors include lack of food, pasture, lack of social amenities, and political support. ‘‘There is full state and community support for violence,’’ the report reads partly even as it emphasises that people’s clamour for peace is also overwhelming. It is on this basis that Governor of Jonglei State Denay Chagor on Monday, January 25, challenged his colleagues in the government to preach peace but serve it with development.
He said areas riddled with conflicts like his state have stunted because the people are told to embrace peace with no alternative. This, he said, has contributed deeply to the collapse of previous peace deals signed to bring sanity in Jonglei and Pibor. “The reason why the problem is not resolved is because the innocent citizens in Jonglei and Pibor Administrative Area are not the problem. The problem is with us here in Juba [politicians],’’ he said. “As we all know that there are so many good resolutions written about Jonglei; so many good documents on how to solve this conflict but yet this conflict has not been resolved,’’ he added. He said that building more schools to raise the literacy levels and creating jobs could be the masterstroke to solving the insecurity-especially wiping out cattle rustling. “…it is so difficult for somebody who grew up doing cattle raids to stop [it] while there is no any means of development in their village. Now we are telling them that you lay down your gun and sit down and do nothing. That is not possible,’’ he said.
Remedies tossed
Chagor said an all-inclusive governance approach is crucial and without it the country risks losing crucial investors to the neighbouring countries. “If I am an investor who wanted to invest in Jonglei State but I cannot provide security, [I] will not only leave Jonglei but I will leave South Sudan and will go to Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia or another country,’’ he said.
Chief Administrator Pibor Area Joshua Konyi said the two-day conference would be an embarrassment to peace if no ceasefire would be found to end the sequences of violence that ran for 60 days with a loss of life being reported daily in 2020. “It is better for us to accept peace and be in peace,” he said. Konyi attributed the collapse of previous deals to improper involvement of people at the grassroot level- a trend that he said was not repeated this time.
He said, “But today we have decided to bring them the participants and this means that the conference will succeed and I would like us to go back with peace and to be with a peaceful heart.” Behind the pursuit of peace is a committee of representatives from the affected communities that will be constituted by the president to monitor the implementation of the resolutions. According to data compiled by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, inter-communal violence claimed over 600 lives, displacing over 160,000 people – with the Dinka Bor, Nuer, and Murle ethnic groups being the most affected as of 2020. With updated statistics unavailable in 2021, the figures could be higher.