Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, popularly known as PLO Lumumba, a Kenyan lawyer, and advocate of the Kenyan and Tanzanian High Courts, says South Sudanese leaders must shelve their ambitions and be guided by the interests of the people of South Sudan for peace to be achieved.
PLO further called out the East African Community, the African Union, and the international community through the United Nations to support South Sudan fully implement the peace agreement for peace and socio-economic development in the region.
Radio Tamazuj spoke to the celebrated Pan-Africanist and below are edited excerpts of the conversation.
Q. How do you evaluate the peace process in South Sudan?
A. Let’s first of all start by being positive by congratulating the players who have recognized that peace is the prerequisite to social, economic, and political stability. I have followed the peace process since the days of the CPA and we were very disappointed when that was undermined with activities that are well within our knowledge.
The second thing is that we have waited for a long time to see the re-energized peace process start again in earnest. I must say I was very happy that recently the president did take a very critical step in dissolving parliament and starting the process of constituting a parliament and we pray and hope that this peace will hold so that the people of South Sudan can earn the dividends of the independence that they fought for and over which, many young men and women suffered and indeed some continue to suffer.
Q. Do you think the current peace agreement could lead to an election in the country after the end of the transition period?
A. It is not a yes and no answer that one would give in such a situation. Our hope is that during this transition period, the institutions that are charged under the constitution to undertake certain tasks will undertake those tasks so that the people of South Sudan are prepared for a process, which will allow them to elect their leaders in a manner that is democratic. So our hope and prayer is that the transition is designed to lead to an election which will be conducted in a transparent manner and which will allow the people of South Sudan to give a mandate to the people that they want to lead them.
Q. The implementation of the peace agreement has been so slow. How do you evaluate the role of peace monitors and guarantors? Are they doing enough to push for the implementation of a peace agreement in South Sudan?
A. It is very easy from an armchair position to blame the guarantors but remember even the peace guarantors are sometimes frustrated. They are frustrated because of their internal dynamics over which they have no control. So, in my view, it is the players themselves that must remain faithful to the timetable. It is like a marriage. It is the husband and wife who must play their role. You can’t expect the bride’s maids and the bride groom’s partner to be the ones that are making them ensure that the marriage works. It is important that the key leaders in this particular process, and permit me to name them by name, President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar and the other players do what they must, to prioritize what is in the best interest of South Sudan.
And they must remember that everybody in Africa is praying for them and we wish them goodwill. They must remember on that day when they went to Rome and the Roman Catholic Pope knelt before them. it was a statement to them that peace is desired, it was a statement to them that the world is looking at them, it was a statement to them that people are becoming impatient, it was a statement to them that they must sacrifice personal interest for the general good. And I wish the five vice presidents and the leaders in this regard whom I have already named, President Kiir and Riek Machar, to do what they must.
Q. So based on what you just said, do you mean that the main parties are the ones delaying the implementation of the peace agreement?
A. I would be speculating if I assigned blame but on the basis of the evidence that is around it appears to me that suspicions sometimes run very deep and people are afraid to take such a decision. But what is leadership about? Leadership is about taking certain drastic steps and doing things that will annoy others. If you want to please everybody then you will find that you can’t move an inch. In this regard, therefore, we think that the leadership ought not to be hesitant. They must look at what is in the best interest of the people of South Sudan. And ignore their many hangers-on whose interest is short-term and sometimes selfish.
Q. What could be done for this peace agreement to be implemented fully and for permanent peace to be achieved in the country?
A. What is needed is that those who participated in liberating South Sudan recognize that participation in the struggle was a sacrifice, it was a privilege and an honor and that the best interest of their generation and the generations yet to be born, not only requires and demands that they deliver the peace for which they broke away from Khartoum’s administration. And this requires sacrifice. They only have to look at the experience of other nations which have gone through similar processes. Look at the experience of Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and many other countries and make a solemn vow, that we are going to learn from the mistakes that they made if any and therefore, we are going to deliver what we promised, peace and economic prosperity. That requires monumental sacrifice. That is all we ask of them.
Q. Do you think that the mechanisms used by IGAD in the mediation process are the main reason for the delay and lack of political will from South Sudanese leaders?
A. You can sign the best agreement that there is in the world but if there is no goodwill, the things that are written in the paper will mean nothing. But if you agree to do things and you believe that those things are necessary for the good of the people, sometimes you don’t even need an agreement. You only need people to enter into the understanding which is documented or undocumented and the people will do what is good and right. Whenever you see any peace process being reduced into a written form, it means that people are suspicious of one and that suspicion demands that everything is set out in detail so that the progress is measurable.
If indeed the IGAD peace documents are lacking in anything, it is the duty of players to fill in the gap through goodwill. Only remember one thing; why was the war fought in the first place? This is the question that must always ring in the minds of the leaders. Why did we fight in the first place? We fought that we may liberate our people from modern-day slavery, we fought that we may liberate our people from poverty, we fought that we may liberate our people from economic sorrow and want. If they remember that, the gaps in the agreement will mean nothing. It will be filled with goodwill.
Q. Do the neighboring countries like Kenya or the East African community have a role to play to ensure there is peace in South Sudan?
A. Not only Kenya, Kenya being an immediate neighbor, Uganda being a neighbor, Ethiopia being a neighbor, Sudan being a neighbor, the Central African Republic being a neighbor, all of us have an interest in ensuring that there is peace in South Sudan. Because if there is no peace in South Sudan, there is a sense in which we also bear the brunt. But because South Sudan is a member of the East African Community, one of the things that I would urge the current chair of the East African Community who is the president of Kenya, to actually ensure that the special envoys who do exist, are used to good effect to energize the peace process. It is also not lost and me that the current Secretary-General of the East African Community is Kenya. And therefore, Kenya has a special role to play to ensure that indeed the peace process succeeds during this particular period. It is a duty of Kenya, it is the duty of the East African Community, it is equally a duty of the African Union to ensure that peace is realized and it is peace that is of a permanent nature. That is what good neighbors do to their folks.
Q. What can you say about the current economic crisis in South Sudan?
A. I have seen many countries both during my lifetime and as a student of history and discovered, that when a people make a solemn vow and make a decision to correct the errors of the past, realizing economic development can take a very short time. When Rwanda was victimized by the genocide in 1994, many are they that wrote the obituary of Rwanda, today, because the people made and resolved we have something to write home about. In 1986, when Uganda was under the regime that had undermined the economy, we saw what happened when the NRA/NRM took power. It can be done. And I am of the view that there is no shortage of countries both within the continent of Africa and outside of the continent who are prepared to come to South Sudan and ensure that the economic situation is addressed. And I also have faith in the South Sudanese in the diaspora and they are there in Australia, the USA, Africa, and in different parts of the world. If there is peace and it is a peace that promises that it will last, those men and women will come back home, and believe me, in five years, you will have a different story to tell about South Sudan.
Q. What is your last message to the leaders of South Sudanese?
A. My message is South Sudan is the youngest nation in the world. It is a nation whose sons and daughters spilled blood that they may know peace. It is the duty of the leaders within South Sudan to sacrifice their personal ambitions to ensure that peace is restored and economic activity and prosperity is realized. It is the duty of the leaders of the region within the East African Community to do what we must to support South Sudan in their quest. It is the duty of the continent of Africa to ensure that we support South Sudan. It is the duty of the international community under the United Nations to ensure that we help the people of South Sudan. It is a human duty to ensure that we take care of our neighbors and our neighbors in this regard are the people of South Sudan.