Public pressure on Kiir to quit yields no fruit

 

By FRED OLUOCH

Attempts to ignite a popular uprising by civil society groups in South Sudan was off to a rocky start.

Calling itself the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), the group launched a public campaign dubbed "We have had enough’’ in Juba on July 31 for political change, claiming that the ruling Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) has failed after 10 years of independence.

The civil society is seeking public pressure to oust SPLM regime like their counterpart did in Sudan, bringing an end to Omar al Bashir leadership.

“The intractable crises in South Sudan are directly the result of leadership failure. South Sudan's leaders have failed to promote a strategic and shared vision for the country, and the country is simply floating and drifting without guidance and clearly without a clear direction,” the group alleged.

However, the government immediately launched a crackdown on the group by shutting down The Sudd Institute, a PCCA-affiliated independent research think tank, and arresting its directors, Dr Augustino Ting Mayai Kuel and Aguer Kuel.

According to Nyagoah Pur, a South Sudan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, this civil society call comes at a time when the government has taken a hardline stance.

“While the call appears to have some support in some quarters, we have yet to see mass mobilisation that could evolve into popular uprising like the one that occurred in Sudan. How authorities continue to stifle the new coalition and public response to the call, as well as the harassment of involved activists, will be the litmus test for its success,” said Mr Pur. But PCCA's supporters are hopeful that the movement will grow in momentum. The group's executive director Rajab Mohandis, said that the people of South Sudan have had enough of war, corruption, insecurity and economic hardship as a result of leadership neglect and failure to govern.

“The country is on the verge of collapsing due to ineffective leadership. It is now abundantly clear that this dysfunctional government is incapable of delivering the much-needed peace, security, and stability to the country,” said Mr Mohandis.

The embattled First vice president Dr Riek Machar and the SPLM-IO are partial to the civil society group. The SPLM-IO Political Bureau, which met in Juba on August 4, condemned the arbitrary arrest and detention of some PCCA members.

“This group was exercising its constitutional right to free speech, expression, and association, despite the fact that the SPLM-IO does not necessarily agree with the content of their message,” said SPLM-IO.