The South Sudanese government and the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) have traded blame over the continued ambushes and killings of traders and travellers by unidentified gunmen on Nimule-Juba highway in South Sudan.
On August 30, while addressing the first joint session of the reconstituted South Sudanese Parliament, President Salva Kiir reportedly blamed the SSOMA for the road ambushes and killings.
Mr Kiir said his government suspended participation in the Rome talks until such attacks ceased. Two weeks ago, two nuns and other travellers were killed after their convoy was attacked on the highway which Mr Kiir blamed on the National Salvation Front (NAS), a member of SSOMA.
He told parliament that the government had signed the Rome Declaration and Rome Resolution, the Recommitment to the Cessation of Hostilities, and the Declaration of Principles with the SSOMA but that SSOMA has continued carrying out attacks.
“Now that SSOMA, specifically the NAS elements, continue to violate these commitments, we have decided to pause the ongoing Sant’Egidio led Rome Peace Initiative. Our pursuit of an inclusive peace should never be taken for weakness and used as a window to kill the innocent.” Mr Kiir said.
He added: “Talks with SSOMA will only resume after they cease killing the innocent and show their commitment to the documents they signed in Rome. It is only when they meet these conditions that genuine dialogue with them will resume.”
Mr Kiir said ending insecurity is key to the country’s progress and that whatever undermined peace impeded genuine debate.
However, on September 3, SSOMA issued a statement in response to the allegations by Mr Kiir stating that the president’s utterances showed recklessness and irresponsibility and only intended to shift blame elsewhere.
“SSOMA does not have a presence at the said incident area along the Juba-Nimule highway. The barbaric incidents happened while the highway was in full security protection as the Juba regime’s elite including President Kiir and other dignitaries were travelling from Loa to Juba the same day,” the statement, which was signed by Mr Lasu Kwaje, SSOMA’s spokesperson, read in part.
It added: “SSOMA would like to remind our fellow South Sudanese and the international community that Kiir’s regime is the prime and responsible culprits for insecurity along Juba-Nimule highway.”
SSOMA said President Kiir’s decision to pull out of the peace talks meant a regime that is not ready to ensure peace returns to the country.
“SSOMA is, however, not surprised by Kiir suspending participation in the talk. It is an indication of the regime’s lack of political will to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan and bring about sustainable peace and prosperity,” the statement read.
Despite the presence of a security protocol and peace pact signed between the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) last year, ambushes and killings of truck drivers and passengers along the Juba-Nimule highway have persisted.
In August, UPDF warned Ugandans against travelling to South Sudan without the South Sudan army or police to escort them.
The army’s warning comes in the wake of several incidents of ambushes along the Juba-Nimule highway in which truck drivers and passengers have been shot, killed and injured.
The army said Ugandans, who were continuing to travel to South Sudan without official escorts from South Sudan, were doing so at their own risk.
Last month, the Kenyan Association of Truck Drivers and Transporters issued a directive halting any further travels and movement of its members to South Sudan following numerous ambushes and killings of its members by unknown gunmen along the Juba-Nimule highway.
The association leadership said the decision to suspend travels to South Sudan was reached by the association’s board following the heightened insecurity in the country in recent weeks.
A day before issuing the statement, two truckers of Uganda and Kenya origin were ambushed on the highway and shot dead by unknown gunmen.
“We ask all transporters (transport companies) to withdraw their services forthwith to South Sudan until such time security shall be guaranteed.”
Two days later, truck drivers from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, among others staged a protest at the Elegu border over the killings.
Agreement reached
Meanwhile, an agreement has been reached with the South Sudanese government on strict and tough security measures.
Earlier on, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello confirmed that he flew to Juba and met the South Sudan team led by President Kiir and discussed ways of solving the problem.
Lt Hammed Hassan Kato, the UPDF 4th Division spokesman said the issues agreed upon include staging security units of soldiers every 10km on the highway as well as patrolling the highway to stop the ambushes.
“What I want to put clearly is that the security arrangements and deployment will only be done by South Sudan, Uganda will not be involved,” he said.
About elegu-nimule- Juba route
Trade
The Elegu-Nimule-Juba route is a major transport corridor for Uganda and South Sudan.
South Sudan is highly dependent on imports, mainly from Kenya and Uganda, and the drivers’ continued protests could affect the supply of goods in the country.