South Sudan President Salva Kiir (centre) flanked by his political nemesis Dr Riek Machar during a past press briefing in Juba.
| AFPNews
Prime
Kiir’s plate at the EAC full as critics keenly watch his moves
Arriving back home from the 23rd Summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) in Arusha, South Sudan President Salva Kiir was warmly received by jubilant countrymen and women at the Juba International Airport on November 25.
The hero’s welcome was courtesy of his newly acquired hat – that of the EAC Summit chair – which was passed on to him by Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye after a year of drama, new trade barriers, and the admission of an extra partner state.
The South Sudanese took over the mantle at an interesting time when he was admitting the bloc’s eighth member, Somalia, whose entry has divided opinion across the region.
While it comes with many envisaged trading benefits, complete with a sea route to the Arabian Peninsula, the new member has burdens that the new chair will be crucial in dealing with, top being security and sociopolitical stability in Mogadishu.
Despite the seat being rotational, South Sudan had been bypassed in the past due non-compliance with integration protocols, non-payment of dues to the Community and political instability at home.
Kiir’s government has been lukewarm towards the EAC, with the president and his ministers skipping many EAC meetings. But henceforth, Kiir will be expected to play an active role in running the EAC during his one-year tenure.
Is he equal to the task of leading the fastest growing regional bloc in Africa, in the face of unending trade disputes as well as a heavy agenda on regional peace?
His plate is full of issues that stand in the way of regional integration, including 12 non-tariff barriers.
Peter Mathuki, EAC Secretary-General, during the 44th Ordinary Council of Ministers held on November 22 ahead of the summit said by June 2023, 16 of 28 NTBs had been resolved while 12 were at different levels of resolution among partner states.
Other outstanding issues include liberalisation of air services, the dispute over the EAC single tourist visa, the use of national identity cards for travel in the region, and activation of the EAC disputes settlement mechanism.
To start with, South Sudan has been flagged as leading in the number of NTBs in the region. These include Juba’s decision to continue charging EAC citizens visa fees, specifically those from Rwanda and Burundi.
But South Sudanese are also charged visa in some EAC partner states.
The country has also been accused of erecting roadblocks – 13 in total! – between Nimule and Juba, affecting Ugandan traders most. But Juba insists that it has reduced them to just two.
South Sudan is yet to align its trade policies with those of the EAC member states and work towards reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Meeting all the preconditions
Since its accession in 2016 without meeting all the preconditions, South Sudan has been lagging in annual contributions and only cleared its outstanding debt of $15 million a week to the last meeting, after the summit waived over half of the $36 million arrears.
This will be a busy year for President Kiir as he prepares for the first-ever general election next year. The preparations are severly behind schedule and his moves, especially around the constitution of the electoral commission, have been met with opposition from his rival in government, first Vice-President Riek Machar and his allies. They say the president has nominated his allies to the key positions, appropriating advantage over his rivals in the presidential race.
A 10-year civil strife has also ravaged the country, with numerous delays in the implementation of the peace accord signed in 2018.
Pundits wonder if the man who has been struggling to bring peace in his own country has the wherewithal to pacify eastern Congo, or Somalia for example, a role that now falls on his lap.
To his credit, he has been the guarantor of the peace process for his northern neighbour, Sudan, where a seven-month conflict has displaced millions of citizens and killed thousands others.
Excited crowd
He seems upbeat about his new regional role and, addressing an excited crowd upon his arrival back home last weekend, he preached peace and promised to make his country “proud before the people who have thought that we are unable to do anything regionally.”
Even his nemesis, Dr Machar, said President Kiir’s selection as EAC chair was a testament to South Sudan’s ability and the bloc’s leaderships inspires a sense of pride among the people of South Sudan.
“It is a big recognition that the EAC heads of state, for the first time recognised South Sudan’s ability in the eyes of the region and the wider international community,” said Dr Machar, who was part of the crowd welcoming the president.
As the EAC chair, besides fostering peace in a restive region, Kiir is also expected to oversee the implementation of the two outstanding integration pillars, the Monetary Union and the Political Federation.
Among the disputes he might have to resolve includes which country will host the EAC Monetary Institute, the precursor of the EAC Central Bank, a matter that stalled after Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda rejected the choice of Tanzania and sent the evaluation team back to the drawing board.
For a region reeling under the impact of climate change, the new chair is expected to oversee climate change mitigation and food security programmes. Currently, the region is still smarting from the impact of the el Nino phenomenon, blamed for drought, floods, and other extreme weather conditions.
There is a need for the region to trade in food to supply those member states with deficit and boost incomes to farmers of states with surplus. But the ttrade in food has historically been marred by disputes.
For instance, Tanzania has blocked its maize from the Kenyan market, Kenya has banned Ugandan dairy products from its market, Rwanda and DR Congo have shut the common border, while Ugandan exporters always find barriers accessing the Juba market.
Also read: UN lifts arms embargo on Somali forces
For the south Sudanese bureaucrats and political leaders, the celebration will need to end soon and the hard work begin.
Foreign Affairs Minister, James Morgan, who was a long-time Permanent Representative to the African Union, vouches for President Kiir’s leadership credentials, describing him as a freedom fighter and liberator, “who is now a statesman and peace icon in our region brings numerous and unique experiences to the EAC.”
But others like Pagan Amum, a former SPLM secretary-general now living in self-exile in the US, have no kind words for the EAC, citing the double jeopardy of making Kiir chair while admitting Somalia.
Region is no longer “safe"
Mr Amum says he is concerned that the region is no longer “safe.”
Former assistant minister for foreign affairs Dr Cirino Hiteng said that the regional leaders “aren't serious because President Kiir has been unable to keep South Sudan in peace.”
Harold Acemah, a retired Ugandan diplomat who represented the country at the UN for 25 years, is both hopeful and sceptical about Kiir’s chairmanship.
He said that while it is a great honour for Africa's youngest state to take the EAC reins, he could seriously dent the nation’s image should he fail.
“President Salva Kiir lacks the moral authority to play the role of a mediator and peacemaker in similar internal conflicts in DRC and Somalia,” said Mr Acemah.
The holdouts group — who did not sign the 2018 peace agreement — led by Gen Thomas Cirillo of the National Salvation Front, have also faulted Kiir’s selection.
In a joint statement under the umbrella of National Consensus Forum (NCF), the leaders said that the regional leaders failed to consider the challenges South Sudan is facing.
Should they share in the rotational leadership of this body? Absolutely yes. Should member nations transfer their malpractices and failures in governance, justice, transparency, and accountability to the regional body?” they said in a statement released on November 22, when it was apparent that South Sudan was poised to take over the EAC leadership.
By Luke Anami, Fred Oluoch (Joint report)
