Keep peace on track

ACAUTIOUS optimism has greeted the signing of the compromise peace accord by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir last week.

While this has relieved the anxiety that had been building after rebel leader Riek Machar was the only one to sign the agreement a week earlier, it has added more responsibility to the shoulders of the international community for policing the accord’s implementation.

For starters, Kiir put pen to paper despite reservations on the wording of clauses ranging from his title, the role of parliament and several other areas that on the surface do not appear like deal breakers. That said, it only requires a mind set on making the agreement worth less than the paper it is written on to dwell on sideshows and derail the peace process.

This would plunge the country and the region’s economies into uncertainty, creating a breeding ground for opportunistic warlords.

The threat of collective and individual sanctions hovering over the heads of the leaders may serve as a deterrent to any backtracking for a while, but as experience elsewhere has shown, leaders resort to clandestine tactics, such as a seemingly popular clamour for a rethink, to defeat the spirit of the agreements they are committed to.

This should not be allowed to happen in South Sudan. And it will require concerted efforts from the global community to give this opportunity for peace a chance, given that Africa’s youngest country is on the edge of the precipice.

It may be early days, but given opposition to the peace agreement by influential people in both camps, a tentative arrangement for a peacekeeping force should be put in place.