Peacekeeper from NZ sees upside for troubled state
David Shearer said this week he was leaving the top United Nations job in South Sudan convinced the world’s youngest nation has the potential to become a tourist destination to rival any country in East Africa and the oil and mineral riches to spur economic progress – if it can eliminate corruption and establish a transparent and open government.
As the country approaches its 10th anniversary of independence from Sudan on July 11, it has a transitional government in place following a 2018 peace agreement, and a 2020 ceasefire.
Shearer, leader of the Labour Party in New Zealand from 2011-13, told the Associated Press that although ‘‘it’s all moved too slowly,’’ it’s now time to focus on elections ‘‘and have a legitimate, popularly elected government. That needs to be the rallying cry as we go forward – to bring everybody on board and to put pressure on the government to actually speak up and hold those elections.’’
‘‘That doesn’t mean to say winner needs to take all, because that can create all sorts of problems. But we do have to allow people to have their say in what comes next.’’
There were high hopes for peace and stability once South Sudan gained its long-fought independence from Sudan but the country slid into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vicepresident who belongs to the Nuer people.
Numerous attempts at peace failed, including a deal that saw Machar return as vice-president in 2016 only to flee months later amid fresh fighting. The civil war has killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions.
Intense international pressure followed the most recent peace deal in 2018, and in February last year a coalition government led by Kiir, with Machar as his deputy, was formed.
As UN special representative for South Sudan, Shearer was head of the largest UN peacekeeping mission, with more than 14,000 troops and 1500 police, and in charge of political dealings as well. He has held a variety of UN posts, including in Iraq from 2007-2009.
Looking back on why an oilrich
country born with high expectations has ended up in such a dire situation, Shearer said that after independence ‘‘the elites’’ – the generals during the war who found themselves in government – had ‘‘huge animosities’’ toward each other and struggled to be on top.
He said transforming the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which became the ruling party of the new country, into a state was still in progress. ‘‘They’re thinking as a movement: How can we continue
to hold power as we move forward? And that’s a very big difference . . . (from) the strategic vision of, where is South Sudan going to be in five, 10 years time?’’ he said.
South Sudan had immense potential. ‘‘If you had stability, you would have a tourist industry that could rival any of the countries in east Africa ... it’s extraordinary,’’ and the country also has fertile soil, oil, teak and minerals.‘‘It’s all there, it just needs good governance.’’