Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. At the beginning of this week, the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit wrote to his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni requesting him to be part of regional efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict in neighbouring country Sudan.
South Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Minister, James Pitia Morgan revealed that President Kiir’s letter called for an extraordinary summit of the general assembly of the heads of state and government of the regional trade bloc Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) member states.
Mr Morgan added that Salva Kiir Mayardit has been discussing with other leaders in the region about how to address the war in Sudan in a more coordinated and unified way.
What was in the letter
President Kiir’s letter to his Ugandan colleague was explaining on the situation of the military’s leadership who requested him to mediate in the peace process. However, this can only happen through IGAD where an extraordinary summit of the heads of state of the member countries can be convened to discuss and come out with a resolution authorizing President Museveni to lead the process.
Sudanese conflicts
The current conflict in Sudan started on April 15 this year due to a struggle for power between army chief Gen Abdel Fatah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo alias Hemedti.
General al-Burhan rose to power in the tumultuous aftermath of the military-led coup that ousted former President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was removed from power in 2019.
Sharing power agreement
After Omar al-Bashir’s government was overthrown, Sudanese civilians and the military signed a power-sharing agreement, General Burhan was elected the chairman of the sovereignty council, and a body was given the responsibility of overseeing the country’s transition to democratic rule.
Friend turned into enemy
It all started with General al-Burhan failing to execute his tasks, as the date for shifting of the power to civilians got closer in late 2021, he also seemed reluctant to.
In December 2022, the military, represented by General al-Burhan, and a coalition of civilian pro-democracy groups, signed a preliminary agreement brokered by members of the international community to end the political standoff.
Unfortunately, some civilians and General al-Burhan’s main rival, Lt. Gen. Muhammed Hamdan, the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group did not buy the agreement and they decided to continue with the protests.
Thousands killed
Since the war started between the Sudanese army the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) more than 9,000 people have been killed, more than 12000 injured in the unrest, 5 million people were internally displaced according to the aid agencies, and more than 1.1 million had fled the country as refugees.
As the war in Sudan is exacerbating, Uganda in the vicinity of Sudan is facing a huge throng of refugees which can causes insecurity between the two neighbouring countries.
Why President Kiir is worried about Sudan
According to the Minister Morgan, President Kiir, is concerned that if nothing is done the ongoing war in Sudan could spill over to other countries in the region.
In September this year, Sudan’s Acting Foreign Minister, Ali al-Sadiq told Juba that Khartoum felt South Sudan was better placed to mediate the war.
Al-Sadiq explained Sudan feels that South Sudan is the best country to mediate the war because there is a long companion in between.
South Sudan was part of Sudan. It gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 as the outcome of a 2005 agreement that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war.
One of the reasons was South Sudan’s population, predominantly African cultures that tend to adhere to Christian or animist beliefs, was long at odds with Sudan’s largely Muslim and Arab northern government. It is made up of the 10 southern-most states of Sudan.
Permanent ceasefire hindrance
So far, talks of a permanent ceasefire have stalled despite several attempts, a broken deal between factions by Saudi Arabian and United States mediators.
This was due to the Sudan’s military leadership who has been pressing for a complete and unconditional withdrawal of the paramilitary RSF from the capital, Khartoum to designated cantonment sites if they were to engage in a peaceful talk to resolve political issues with the group.
The conflict in Sudan is going. At the beginning of this month, the RSF attacked the town of Wad Ashana in North Kordofan along a key commercial route.
Additionally, they attacked and took over the town of al-Aylafoun southeast of Khartoum, seizing a pumping station along an oil pipeline that runs from South Sudan to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.
The seven-months conflict in Sudan has not only affected the Sudanese people but also neighbouring countries are partly affected. This demands immediate intervention to prevent creating another Libya.
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