You failed our children, Kiir and Machar told

NAIROBI: On Wednesday last week, Riek Machar addressed a press conference in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, where he issued an ultimatum to South Sudan President Salva Kiir to quit. Machar, a rebel leader from the volatile nation that recently celebrated its fourth independence anniversary, said Kiir’s tenure was illegitimate and unconstitutional.

“The SPLM would therefore like to categorically declare the government of Salva Kiir, the National Legislature and the State Government and the State Legislative Assemblies as unconstitutional and illegitimate as of midnight of July 8, 2015. The SPLM/SPLA appeals to President Salva Kiir to resign from office and dissolve his entire government,” he said.

Machar’s ultimatum added fuel to the existing tension between the two factions in the South Sudanese impasse. The impasse has culminated in the signing of at least eight peace accords and ceasefire agreements since an alleged coup in December 2013 that resulted in the expulsion of Machar and his allies from the ruling party SPLM and subsequent exit from government.

“Although I do not agree with what he said, he is justified to use the quit notice as a tool to attain the democracy that we in the party have sought for so long,” Rebecca Garang told The Standard on Sunday in an interview.

Mrs Garang, the widow of South Sudan’s founding father John Garang, said the two leaders – President Kiir and Machar – ought to step aside and put their ego aside to let the nation prosper under new leadership. “Both of them are leaders in their own right. But their egos will not let them reach such a decision,” she said, adding that the ultimatum by Machar was ill advised because: “There are no alternative systems. If Kiir were to resign, what would Machar do with the leadership? The systems of governance in our country are not working. These are what need to be fixed.”

South Sudan has been in a state of civil war since the abortive coup setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the poverty-stricken country along ethnic lines.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan, the rise of violence in Africa’s newest state has been fuelled by allegations of brutal, intensified killings, rape, abduction, looting, arson and displacement. All of which have been met by political unwillingness by the two sides of the conflict that has resulted in several African Union and IGAD summits dedicated to the current lawlessness in the nation.

In spite of this, Mrs Garang believes that progress is being made. Albeit slowly. “The Arusha Accord resolved all the issues we previously had with Juba. All that remains now is for the leaders to act on it,” she says.

In January, delegates from three factions of SPLA/SPLM signed a 12-page agreement in Arusha, Tanzania, laying out key steps towards reunifying the party. Those who signed include the party loyal to President Salva Kiir, another that calls itself the SPLM-in-Opposition and which is led by former Vice President Machar, and a third made of party officials who were detained when the conflict began in December 2013.

Key among the recommendations of the agreement was the reinstatement of party officials, including Machar, fired by President Kiir. The jailed officials, too, were to be reinstated and according to Mrs Garang, they are already in Juba.

“There are a few valid concerns raised by Machar that need to be addressed, one of which is security measures. They need to be sure they are walking into an environment that they can trust. They need to know all that was agreed upon will be adhered to before they lay down their guns,” she said.

But as the situation rages on and the political class tears each other down, the country’s young generation continues to stare at uncertainty. The optimism that a generation showed barely four years ago is constantly on the wane. They are discouraged by squabbling among those who led them to the cusp of opportunity and greatness only to abandon them at their hour of need in pursuit of individual agendas that somehow, overshadow the greater good.

“We have failed our children. The jobs we promised them have not come. We still recycle elders for State jobs. When it has mattered most, we have failed to cede ground and make compromises for their sake. If this goes on, they, too, will take up arms and rise against us. Why? Because they know they deserve so much more. They know that South Sudan has more to offer than conflict and leadership wrangles,” Mrs Garang said.

Meanwhile, Machar’s quit notice to Kiir has expired. The world is not holding its breath for him to make good his threat to take up arms. Neither is it expecting Kiir to vacate office. And part of it believes this recent conflict is self-inflicted.

“... President Kiir and Riek Machar and their cronies are personally responsible for this new war and self-inflicted disaster,” President Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice said on Thursday in a video message to the young nation.

The UN believes all groups involved in the conflict have displayed a depth of antipathy towards the ongoing violence that exceeds political differences.