Lack of political will delays peace in South Sudan, Bishop says

15 Dec 2014

Lack of political will delays peace in South Sudan, Bishop says

15 December 2014 - The failure to reach peace at Addis Ababa talks one year after the South Sudan conflict erupted is due to lack of political will, Bishop Enock Tombe said today on UN Radio Miraya.

The Bishop, of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, was speaking during a debate the radio organized to discuss delays in reaching a peace deal in South Sudan after conflict erupted last December.

Bishop Tombe said political leaders should have been examples of peace.

“Unfortunately, instead of dialogue, they use violence and now in Addis Ababa they are being encouraged to talk about peace,” the Bishop said. “But there is tendency always to think that they can end it through military means.”

The Bishop, who is also a member of the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation, said talks in Addis Ababa had reached a stalling point because the two sides had failed to agree on the system of governance, power sharing and reconciliation of the two principle leaders.

Tombe appreciated the role by civil society organizations and faith-based institutions in achieving peace in South Sudan, after parties had wasted four months with no direct talks. He said the parties were just interested in power-sharing and positions.

According to the Bishop, the issue of transitional justice to account for crimes committed during the conflict was raised by civil society organizations and faith-based institutions invited to peace talks by mediators.

“When we came, it is when they began to talk seriously because they began to get inputs from the other stakeholders,” said Bishop Enock. “For example, the issue of accountability would have been just swept under the carpet.”

Meanwhile, civil society activist Mou Ambrose Thic said any future leader of South Sudan should take atrocities committed during the conflict seriously.

“The losses that we had incurred materially and human are so great, so big and so heart-breaking that anybody who is really aspiring for the leadership of this country, if he does not look at what is it that we have lost through this tragic event, then I think he is not fit to lead us,” Mr. Thic said.

The activist said for permanent peace to be realized in South Sudan government institutions, including the SPLM and army, should be reconstructed and all political parties reorganized.

He said peace cannot be achieved through power wrangling.

“The economic and political structure and the social fabric cannot be solved by power wrangling,” Mr. Thic said. “It is not the issue of the prime minister and the president that are solutions to the problems.”

Luka Biong, Director of the Center of Peace and Development Studies in the University of Juba, said implementing a peace deal would be very difficult due to mistrust and hatred created by both sides, even if warring parties struck an agreement.

“The real danger for me is not having peace but implementing peace because you have to go (through) a long healing process, and I think the mistrust that we have created among ourselves will require an … uphill task,” said Mr. Biong.

The one-year conflict in South Sudan has forced more than 100,000 people to seek shelter at UNMISS compounds in the country.