IGAD led peace talks are Juba felt peace jokes

IGAD peace and jokes at war summits

IGAD led peace talks are Juba felt peace jokes

With Opoka Christopher Arop

I think these peace-talks are being overtaken by events. Every interest group has become a stakeholder in whatever idea of peace that will be negotiated. In my opinion as the saying goes that too many cooks eventually spoil the broth, the same goes with the IGAD led talks. My worry is that the agenda seems to shift with every last kick of whatever horse is dying or rising in Addis Ababa.

As a young pan-Africanist, I hold the view that whatever the consequences, if it is possible for President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar and whatever people they have in their camps to agree on something tangible, it would be good for all South Sudanese.

How I wish the animosity would be wiped off international chronicles by Dr. Riek Machar flying into Juba and getting a red-carpet State reception at the airport and VIP treatment at J1! Is this wishful thinking?  Would it be too much to ask? Is this not the scenario we all expect and want in the end of all these stakeholder consultations and subsequent agreements?

What we need is a complete overhaul of the governance system in the country. This we all seem to agree on. I hate some of the headlines making the rounds, but it is likely that however inclusive the peace negotiations become, it will still never be inclusive enough.

I have learnt that most representative groups in Addis Ababa are supporting specific interests, and these interests are either pro-Kiir or pro-Riek and the competition it now appears is in how to win the support of those that find themselves in the middle.

I think the so called civil society, church groups, opposition political parties, and how I wish they had directly added my favorite groups; splinter SPLA commanders and viciously rich business moguls who actually run the show in South Sudan. It would have been the right spicing by the IGAD chefs.

I thought the real issue is that the ordinary South Sudanese is unemployed, without basic accommodation, without electricity, without food, survives on less than a dollar a day, is beaten and abused by the police and military, is abused and cheated in the courts, is silenced without a voice against and left to bleat the horrors to a seemingly dumb and deaf media.

Both teams negotiating in Addis are simply negotiating for their interests; job security schemes will only mean a change of the old guards; and this will be described as another African brand of democracy and conflict resolution, adding to voluminous pages of unitary governments, coalition governments and governments of transition.

Let me ask if I may with your permission: Why has President Museveni of Uganda not accepted any government of unity despite repeated calls from the international community to reconcile his political differences with opposition movements in his country?

Our warring parties and their allies in Addis Ababa may not be the most popular in Juba, but they have their backers all over the globe; from Melbourne to Ontario, to New York and London, and now Israel, India and Beijing.

In these political gimmicks everybody benefits. Even the most silent members in the negotiating committees are as powerful. They represent interests that are far larger than them. As everybody in these games position and reposition their interests and align themselves with the highest probable winning side, all that will be left for the ordinary citizenry is chaff.

There is an ensuing debate about relocating the peace jokes to Juba. Other than the humorless life we lead in this country, I would readily embrace yet another reason to shed some of my crocodile tears.

Imagine the talks were shifted to Juba! Road blocks, soldiers everywhere, more guns, less street children and women, more booze in bars and hotels, rising hotel prices, rising food prices, improvements to Juba Local Airport, extra fans for the Juba Local League, free for all boxing matches in residential areas, some night shootings, the return of our December 15 chorus, renewed athletics drills, more prostitutes, a couple of attempted assassinations, give or take some skirmishes resembling violent genocide!

Voila, and the peace talks will go on as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. Oh, I almost forgot. More congregations in churches, new sofas, new uniforms for choirs, new public address systems, more paid talk-shows on mushrooming-music blaring radio stations, and again resuscitation of violent student politics.

If the talks were shifted to Juba, we might get the government to expedite piped water, increase the electricity grid to cover areas such as Munuki-107, Gudele, Manga-10, Gureville, Yei road, Sherikat, Khor-Romula and others.

The potholes will be a shame for the fast�"speeding modest cars for dignitaries, and thus our roads will get a much needed facelift. May be they will throw in some street lights and traffic signs. A few zebra crossings here and there, not that our drivers would abide by red, green and yellow lights flickering every few minutes.

We will bring in serious freezers to ensure the beers are ice cold, tekilla shots with ice-cubes to go with, some imported Dunhill, B&H, not the cheap safari packs. We will improve our buffet dinners and bbq grills for weekends, and some Ethiopian young girls to spice the moment. 

This is why the Addis Ababa talks are morally insulting to me and should be to serious South Sudanese. Remember, a nation of sheep will soon have a government of wolves and our brand of wolves are negotiating an art in tearing its citizens’ from limb to limb.

Ask me if youth unemployment is being discussed in Addis? Ask me if corruption, prosecution and return of stolen of funds by the very people negotiating governance in Addis is being discussed? Ask me if national interest is being discussed? Ask me if those in Addis are saints by any standards? Ask me how many people are going hungry across South Sudan as healthy government officials ponder legitimacy of corruption or sharing the spoils? Ask me if these talks are genuinely about peace?  Ask me if Nuer and Dinka will ever be the same again?

Ask me if Equatoria is not itself infested with its own set of tribalism, cronyism, corruption, hatred, bad leadership, abuse of power, lack of basic services?

 

My teacher once said if you don’t ask questions, you will not be given answers. Here I hope I have asked my questions. What are yours?