Africa leaders in a past summit: They are from right: President Kibaki (Kenya), Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni and the African Union Commission Chairman Dr Jean Ping. Photo/PPS
Kenya and other regional countries want a quick implementation of all protocols outlined in the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in Sudan.
Leaders from Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) member states said in a joint statement that uncertainty in the oil rich nation posed a threat to their own economies and peace.
They were speaking on Tuesday during an extra ordinary Heads of State summit on the Sudan peace process in Nairobi.
They also want the long-running boundary dispute in the oil-producing Abyei region resolved fast owing to the building tension ahead of the country’s elections next month and an upcoming referendum in 2011 to decide whether South Sudan would formally break away from the North.
Both north and south Sudan have claimed Abyei, a central area straddling the country’s north-south border, for decades.
The definition of Abyei’s borders was so sensitive that it was left undecided in the CPA.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, however, ruled to readjust boundaries drawn up by the 2005 CPA panel, pulling in its borders to the north, east and west.
Regional leaders further seek for mobilisation of development assistance to help rebuild parts of Sudan, especially the south, impoverished by decades of war noting that the current state of economic and social imbalance was a potential source of fresh conflict.
“The implementation of the CPA is at a critical stage because of the coming elections and the referendum and how they are tackled will shape the future of Sudan,” President Mwai Kibaki said.
The slow implementation of pacts reached under the CPA is a major concern for the people of Southern Sudan, according to President Salva Kiir.
“I would like to inform you that had it not been for patience and commitment of our people, Sudan would have gone back to war,” Mr Kiir told the summit while commenting about the hitches that had prevented the full implementation of protocol under the CPA.
Among the contentious issues is the formation of an election commission and the passing of election law to guide the process.
“Your excellencies we shall not have done justice to the people of Sudan if we do not ensure that the CPA protocol not only remain valid but they are fully operationalised,” Igan Mahboub Maalim told the summit “We must ponder its seriousness and implications to regional peace and security”.
A direct consequence of the uncertainty surrounding the slow implementation of the CPA protocol has been the lukewarm response from foreign investors who feel Sudan remained risky for investment.
Mr Kiir re-affirmed South Sudan’s resolve to break away from the north and rallied investors and the international community to avail resources that would help improve infrastructure and other growth drivers in the region.
“Our people consider the code of conduct on the referendum more important that even the elections. They are for self determination and they will defend that at all cost,” he said urging donors and investors to focus on assisting South Sudan post-referendum.
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