South Sudan president warns against imported solutions for African problems

April 28, 2014 (JUBA) - South Sudan president Salva Kiir has warmed Africans against relying on imported remedies to solve their problems, saying the continent stands the risk of being embedded with solutions imposed on to its 54 countries.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir has dispatched a four-member political delegation for talks with the group of seven senior SPLM officials in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa (AP)

"African problems are African problems and they should get solutions from African leaders. The problem is that some of us think solutions to our problems would come from somewhere else. This thinking must change otherwise we will have solutions which do not address our problems imposed on us”, president Kiir said on Sunday.

Kiir made the remarks in a speech broadcast by the state-owned SSTV while addressing a forum on peace and security, which was held in Ethiopia.

The function was attended by other regional leaders, including the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and the Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn.

Former Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, recently appointed to head the African Union Commission of inquiry on South Sudan, also attended the forum where presentations were made on security matters affecting the African continent.

This is the second time president Kiir appeared opposed to solutions to African problems coming from outside the continent. In 2013, he openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the involvement of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) in African affairs, describing the latter a tool to target African leaders.

Kiir said at the time that his leadership would not support taking of the current Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta to answer charges brought against him and his deputy, William Ruto, at the ICC headquarters.

It remains unclear why the South Sudanese has suddenly emerged as a strong critic of the outside world’s involvement in Africa’s affairs. Some analysts, meanwhile interpret his statements as reflecting frustrations with the failure by the western world to accept claims from his administration that there was a coup in the country.

However, not even the African Union has accepted that the fighting, which started in mid-December last year triggering the conflict in South Sudan, was a coup attempt.

Over one million people have been displaced and thousands killed in fighting between forces loyal to president Kiir and those allied to his former deputy, Riek Machar.

(ST)