Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan is currently preparing for a new round of peace negotiations in Rome, starting on Monday, March 20.
But while the world’s youngest nation, brought to its knees by over a decade-long civil war, is charting a new path, the rest of the continent is facing the opposite direction, at least going by the political calendar lined up next week.
President Salva Kiir’s administration is set to resume the suspended peace negotiations with holdout groups as it aims to achieve lasting peace in the country.
However, some parts of the continent are currently warming up for protests. From the north to the south, from west to East, the political events set to unfurl on March 20 could stretch democracy in the black continent to its maximum elasticity.
In South Africa, for example, the opposition party has called out for a mass protest. Almost a similar call is being made in Nigeria, Kenya and Tunisia where a large number of citizens are expected to come out in the streets en-masses to forcefully vent their frustrations.
Last week, Kenya’s opposition leader, Raila Odinga, declared March 20 a public holiday. Raila, who lost to William Ruto in the 2022 election, has told his supporters not to go to work next Monday and instead join him in a mass demonstration over the high cost of living.
The move comes after eh government failed to heed Odinga’s 14-day ultimatum to lower the cost of living and open the server for the August 2022 presidential result.
“We have launched peaceful campaigns of defiance, peaceful picketing, protests, boycotts, strikes, disobedience, petitions, sit-ins, and peaceful demonstrations, and they start now,” Odinga, described as an enigma of Kenyan opposition politics, told his supporters last week.
Odinga expressed dissatisfaction with Ruto’s administration, accusing it of failing to deliver on election promises and thus subjecting Kenyans to economic hardship.
The opposition leader said the planned protests would be peaceful, but he warned that his supporters would not be intimidated.
He has since declared March 20 as the date for the “mother of all protests,” which is expected to bring the country to a halt.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has called for a rally in the Free State town of Senekal ahead of the appearance of two suspects accused of murdering farm manager Brendin Horner.
The EFF will gather in Senekal to “protect democracy and the constitution, which are under threat from racist terrorist farmers.”
Afriforum, on the other hand, is present to express its dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of farm attacks and murders.
According to The South African, both the EFF and Afriforum have pledged to participate in a peaceful protest in Senekal.
“We will defend the revolution by any means necessary,” said EFF Deputy Secretary-General Poppy Mailola in a tweet.
“So we really are not going to Senekal to sympathise with a thug; we are going to Senekal to protect our democracy, our constitution, which is under threat by racist terrorist farmers who go and attack a court of law, storm a court of law, and a police station, and chase police around. That’s a declaration of war against the state,” he said.
Further west, Nigerians are expected to take to the streets on Monday to protest police brutality, while Tunisia will hold an anti-Saéd demo on the same day.
The announcement of the protests has caused jitters throughout the country, with businesses and ordinary citizens fearing for their safety.
Some people are worried that the protests will turn violent.
But while the rest of the continent is resorting to violence and protest to resolve their internal disputes, South Sudan and taken a completely new route – diplomacy, to sort out its internal spats.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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