East African
Sunday, April 15, 2012
The two Sudans are most probably headed for another war but is the region and the international community helpless?
South Sudan President Salva Kiir says that after months of
aerial bombardment by Khartoum, they have decided to take over the
oil-rich Heglig because the international community has failed to act
even when Juba complained that Khartoum was violating its territory.
Kiir even went further to tell parliament that he
had defied a request from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, to withdraw
from Heglig.
As it is, Kenya, which presided over the Sudanese
peace agreement is too preoccupied with other pressing issues to play a
prominent role, although it will bear the brunt of a renewed war in the
form of refugees and proliferation of small arms.
Kenya is currently busy with the forthcoming
elections and threats of possible political instability posed by the
cases at the International Criminal Court.
The country is also preoccupied with the war in Somalia and the threats emanating from Al-Shabaab.
Then who will help the two Sudans see sense and avoid plunging into a full-scale war?
For peace to prevail, the international community
must double its efforts for the two to reach a settlement over Abyei,
border demarcation, the issue of citizenship and oil revenue.
With South Sudan having expressed doubts over the
neutrality of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel led by
Thabo Mbeki to produce a lasting solution, perhaps it is time for the
Inter-Governmental-Authority on Development to take over the
negotiation.