Senator Bonnie Khalwale wants government to issue sanctions to South Sudan warlords

Nairobi, Kenya: A Senator now wants the Government to impose sanctions, including freezing of bank accounts, for suspected warlords living in Kenya and believed to be fanning genocide in South Sudan.

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has moved a motion before the House seeking to have Parliament compel the national government to list the suspected perpetrators of the constant violence in South Sudan and ensure that sanctions are imposed on them.

In the motion, Khalwale says that besides freezing the bank accounts of the suspects, the national government should also ensure the deportation of the families of such suspected perpetrators and take any other action that will force the protagonists to stop the violence.

The legislator argues that only such sanctions would force the protagonists, many of whose families he argued are enjoying peace and comfort in Kenya and Uganda, to stop the ongoing genocide and settle their disputes in a peaceful manner.

Khalwale says in the motion awaiting debate in the house that while the perpetrators of violence in South Sudan, mainly military generals, are fanning their groups to violence, leading to mass killings, they have relocated their families to safety and they should thus be compelled, through sanctions, to seek peace on a round table.

He says that sending back these families to the war-torn republic and freezing their bank accounts would force the protagonists to agree to peace as their families would be exposed to the worsening conditions in South Sudan.

"We are concerned that there is evidence that the crime of genocide could be occurring in our neighbouring republic. We also know that Kenya and Uganda are hosting a majority of the kith and kin of the military generals and other combatants of the protagonist sides to the conflict who are suspected to be perpetrating the genocide," says Khalwale.

The Kakamega Senator wants the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to start the process of imposing sanctions on the said leaders once the motion is passed in the House.

Debate on the motion is expected to start on Thursday afternoon.