Elvince Joshua
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The sanctions imposed on South Sudan and the arms embargo were extended on May 30, 2023, and the Security Council text stated, “The Council strongly condemns past and ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the parties, including by armed groups and the South Sudan Defence Forces.”
The government expressly expressed its objection to the decision to extend the sanctions and highlighted the myriad issues at hand.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the sanctions would affect trade, the economy, peace, and national security. On the other hand, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Elia Lumoro, said that the sanctions will delay the deployment of the unified forces and that the arms embargo exposes the country to a threat to its national security from terrorism, armed gangs, and external aggression.
The government also thanked the friendly countries that abstained from voting, namely Ghana, Mozambique, Gabon, China, and Russia, who took the position in appreciation of the efforts made by the transitional government in implementing the peace agreement and moving from war to stability.
The renewal of the sanctions is unfortunate, but it also exposes the lapse on the part of South Sudan in being aggressive enough and playing her politics right.
It is not possible to deny the relative improvement in the situation in recent times after the implementation of some of the provisions of the peace agreement. There is the training of forces, the return of calm in many troubled areas, and the implementation of some infrastructure projects.
On the flip side, there have been occasional standoffs between the parties to the agreement in the last year and the beginning of this year, which slowed the implementation of the peace agreement.
One such incident was triggered by the replacement of the former minister of defence. But the leaders proved to the world that there is increasing political maturity and that the interest of the people is important.
With the sanctions already renewed, the country can only work on how to overturn the status quo in the next sitting.
Take the example of how DR Congo got a reprieve after arguing out its case in the wake of M23. South Sudan could adopt this model and convince the UN Security Council members that the sanctions are pointless. We need to revert to the serious lobbying witnessed in 2022.
Source: The City Review
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