Holdout opposition groups under the South Sudan Opposition Alliance have called for a change of tack in tackling the decade-long conflict in South Sudan.
They said warring groups in the war-torn country have negotiated and signed several peace agreements including one mediated by Igad and one signed in Rome but they have all come a cropper and failed to bring peace to the world’s youngest country since the outbreak of war in 2013.
The opposition groups now want parties to embrace national dialogue involving the Sudanese people instead of peace mediation.
Speaking during the launch of High-Level Mediation for South Sudan, State House, Nairobi, the groups said all the transitional governments that resulted from the peace agreements have failed to take the country back into peaceful co-existence.
“Today, South Sudan is threatened by disintegration and collapse into chaos and disorder,” Pa'gan Amum Okiech, co-founder of South Sudan Reborn, delivered the message on behalf of the holdout groups.
They include the South Sudan United Front, the South Sudan People’s Movement and the National Salvation Front Revolutionary Command Council among others.
Present during the launch of the high-level mediation were several heads of state including host William Ruto, Salva Kiir (South Sudan), Hakainde Hichelema (Zambia) Faustin-Archange Touadéra (Central African Republic), Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe) and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat among other leaders.
Amum said South Sudan continues to be plagued by an economic crisis worsened by years of adverse weather conditions that have led to flooding and rendered the country food insecure.
All this, he said, was happening amid endless peace agreements that have faltered on delivering the promised outcomes as the country plunges further into turmoil.
“Our country is suffering probably the worst humanitarian crisis in our history. More than 75 per cent of our population are in danger of starvation and hunger. For them to survive they need humanitarian assistance,” he said.
He added that the country’s social fabric has also been torn apart as communities rise up against each other in unending conflict and violence.
“All these crises South Sudanese to put their heads together to dialogue and find solutions. This is the only best way for us to respond to your initiative and that of the region and international community,” Pa'gan Amum said.
He said engaging in national dialogue will foster the spirit of brotherliness among the South Sudanese and ignite the flames of peaceful coexistence which has been evasive for over a decade now.
“Engaging in the national dialogue and building national consensus and agreeing to a new social contract is what is required. To give hope to our people, we need to leave the mindset of conflict; we need to stop seeing ourselves as enemies. We are brothers and sisters, President Kiir we are brothers and sisters,” Amum added to a rousing applause.
President Ruto commended the parties involved in the peace process and exuded confidence that the launch of the high-level mediation would end the crisis in Sudan once and for all.
“Listening to both the representatives of the opposition and the representative of government gives us hope that there is a chance to settle this once and for all,” he said.
Kenya is spearheading the peace process under chief mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo.