Old grudges and empty coffers: South Sudan’s precarious peace process

by SAM MEDNICK

South Sudan’s president (centre with hat) and opposition leader (right) formed a unity government last year. But entrenched distrust between the two men is still hindering the path to peace. PHOTO/Jok Solomun/REUTERS

‘The risk is rising that some opposition forces could return to conflict.’

On the streets of South Sudan’s capital city, billboards honour the country’s politicians for ending five years of conflict that cost almost 400,000 lives and displaced millions. “Peacemakers” and “Children of God” declares one poster, quoting the Bible alongside a photo of the president.

But nearly a year after President Salva Kiir formed a unity government with opposition leader Riek Machar – now the vice-president – key parts of the agreement have not been implemented amid entrenched distrust between the two men, funding shortages, and renewed fighting that cost thousands of lives in 2020.

Nyadid Racho from western Pibor – where famine is thought to be occurring – says she has seen little benefit from the deal. The 40-year-old told The New Humanitarian ongoing clashes between community militias cost the lives of two of her children last year – both starved to death within days of each other.

“If we hadn’t been attacked, and if our cattle were not taken, my children would still be alive,” Racho said.

Many South Sudanese who spoke to TNH on a visit to the country in December questioned the political will for peace, while analysts fear disenchantment within Machar’s camp over the slow progress could soon fuel new outbreaks of violence.

“As various parts of the peace deal stall, the risk is rising that some opposition forces could return to conflict or try to sue for peace on their own terms,” said Alan Boswell, a South Sudan analyst with the International Crisis Group. 

The current agreement is the second between Kiir and Machar since civil war broke out in 2013 – two years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan. The collapse of the last deal, in 2016, resulted in widespread violence in the capital, Juba, as Machar fled South Sudan on foot. 

While fighting between forces loyal to the two men has largely subsided over the past 12 months, inter-communal violence – stirred by political elites in Juba – has displaced thousands in places like Pibor.

Deadly clashes have also broken out between government troops and dissident rebel groups who have refused to join the power-sharing deal, which was signed in September 2018.

Insufficient funding for the agreement is further complicating efforts. Dozens of mostly opposition troops have starved to death in cantonment and training sites as they wait to join a new national army, while peace deal officials in Juba have been chased from hotels because the government isn’t paying their bills – $10 million is owed to nine hotels.

The New Humanitarian for more

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