STATEMENT ON THE SECURITY CONCERNS MADE BY GENERAL STEPHEN BUAY ROLNYANG

STATEMENT ON THE SECURITY CONCERNS MADE BY GENERAL STEPHEN BUAY ROLNYANG LEADER OF SOUTH SUDAN PEOPLE MOVEMENT ON 19TH MAY 2024

We, in the South Sudan Civil Society Consortium regret the incident that brought the Tumaini Initiative to halt.
On 19th May 2024, the Leader of South Sudan People Movement SSPM/Gen. Stephen Buay Rolnyang raised a serious complaint about his security which the host government is responsible for.
We want the relevant security agencies to not only beef up security, but to thoroughly and exhaustively interrogate and investigate the incident and leave no stone unturned.
We want Gen. Stephen Buay Rolnyang to be granted his request and prayer to leave the country to a place of his choice pending the final outcome of investigation failure to which it will amount to coercion and detention as was done to Dr. Riek Machar Teny in South Africa in 2017.
Unlike the rest of the opposition leaders that are deemed friendly to South Sudan Government, General Stephen Buay has a legitimate case and reason to be extremely careful and cautious of his security.
We would like to remind the Kenya Government, Africa Union and the International Community, that the South Sudan regime is in record for targeting the Nuer opposition leaders and Nuer population since the conflict unfolded in 2013, and therefore this matter requires utmost and urgent attention.
We are not surprised by this incident because the process is characterized by a lot of deficiencies and biasness that robbed us of our expectations for Tumaini Initiative.
On 5th February 2024, we met and presented a request to Peace Secretariat that they should persuade South Sudan Government to release deportee Morris Mabior Awikjok prior to the commencement of the talks. Unfortunately, they ended up denying us a chance to participate in the talks. There is inadequate and insufficient representation of the diaspora Civil Society in the talks which is not good. The talks are dominated by the Juba based Civil Society organizations. The denial of the diaspora Civil Society organizations in the Talks is probably aimed at making this negotiation a walk in the park for the Government delegation. The decision by the mediators and secretariat to bar us from the talks based on our views was the first security incident that went unreported. In our view, the Parties to the peace process ought to be expressing their grievances freely without victimization.
The launch and eventual commencement of High Level Mediation for South Sudan was done in earnest as if mediators were in hurry. The speed at which the peace process began seems to communicate a message that the parties which are reserved and reluctant to join can stay if they so wish. In Kiswahili they say ‘‘haraka haraka haina baraka’’ which mean hurry, hurry has no blessings. We had expected the mediators to go slowly but sure, for it is the final Agreement that needs an expeditious implementation. Normally, a rushed process resulted in us experiencing a lack of political-will during the implementation process. R-ARCISS is a case in point.
It is a common knowledge that the successive Kenyan governments are the darling of the current South Sudan regime, owing to the previous cases where the South Sudanese opposition leaders and critics were treated unfairly and against the law. This is a point that often elicits fear among the South Sudanese Leaders thus making many to stay away from the Tumaini Initiative. The hostile attitude toward South Sudanese opposition leaders and govt critics is a betrayal to our impoverished and angry populace inspired by the Kenyan’s quest for Human Rights State governed and guided by democracy and the rule of law.
Finally, ‘‘once bitten, twice shy,’’ we recommend that the Tumaini Initiative be relocated and moved from Nairobi to Addis Ababa so that all members to the Rome initiative can come and participate without hindrance and hesitation.
Dated and Signed in Nairobi on this 21st Day of May, 2024