Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Three years of CPA . . .

It is three years tomorrow January 9th since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which brought an end to the twenty years civil war in South Sudan. It is three years that have yet to see results, and a lot more to be desired.

What has changed, and what SHOULD change? The CPA was at one stage at he verge of collapsing with the withdrawal of the peace partners from the Government of National Unity. Abyei remains a thorny issue as well as the presence of the SAF in the South. Will the CPA survive?

It has been known for a long time that there are people who will be happy to see the CPA scraped. There are northerners in Khartoum who see it as a sell out by the NCP, and couldn't stomach the fact that SPLM (or Southerners, for that matter) are part of the government and with some power.

It is true also that the bigger group are happy that the war has ended. For the Internally Displaced to Khartoum, returning to their homes in the South is a priority.

But what has the government done in three years? GOSS has always insisted that they are starting from scratch and change will take a long time to be noticed. It is unfortunate that corruption is rampant, even high up in the government.

South Sudan has a lot of money, but it is in the hands of a few corrupt elite. In the whole of the South, governors have been sacked, ministers dropped and some even facing prison for corruption. But is it enough?

For a long time, The president of South Sudan has turned a blind eye to this issues. It is like he left them to take what they can, a payment to the close friends for the years spent in the bush!

It is three years, but a lot still to be desired. The future is still bleak, sorry to say.

Been a long time!

How time flies! It is already 2008 and I couldn't believe it. My hands have been so tied I had almost no time working on the blog. Sorry about that.

I hope from now I will be able to update at least twice a week. If that is not working, I may consider other options like . . .

Thanks for understanding.