By ADAM IHUCHA--Talks on South Sudan’s accession to
the EAC have failed to take off as slated due to ongoing violence in the
World’s newest nation.
Initial negotiations were slated for January 13-22 in northern Tanzania safari capital of Arusha, but they had to be shelved indefinitely after
Juba’s mission failed to show up.
South Sudan applied for entry into the EAC in 2011
soon after acquiring Independence.
“To date, the EAC secretariat has not received any
formal response from South Sudan about the country’s participation on the accession
negotiations,” said EAC spokesperson Owora Richard Othieno.
Mr Owora says that the EAC has learnt from the
Minister of Finance of South Sudan that the country has proposed a deferral of
the negotiations.
“We understand that official communication in this
regard will be dispatched soon to the EAC headquarters,” Mr Owora said.
For now, the new negotiation dates will be determined
upon consultation with the EAC partner states of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda,
Uganda and Burundi.
South Sudan has been gripped by violence since
December 15, when clashes broke out between army units loyal to President Salva
Kiir and those supporting former vice president Riek Machar.
United Nations estimates that close to half a million
civilians have fled their homes over the past month, to escape what has become
an ethnic war between members of President Kiir’s Dinka people — the country’s
largest tribe — and Mr Machar’s Nuer community.
Up to 10,000 people are said to have been killed in
the fighting.
Last November, a high level mission from South Sudan
led by Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, the minister of finance, commerce, investment and
economic planning was hosted by Mr Sezibera at the headquarters in Arusha. The
delegation had gone to assess the requirements for joining the regional bloc.
The EAC council of ministers constituted a high level
negotiations team (HNLT), which included three members from each partner state,
to start the negotiations by January 2014. The second and third meetings were
scheduled for March and April 2014.
The HLNT would have reported the outcome of the
negotiations to the EAC Heads of State Summit in April for a decision to be
made. However, with the current situation, analysts predict that Juba’s walk to
join EAC will be long.
A source close to the EAC said the ongoing violence
could imply that the young nation is not ready to join the bloc.
“The violence sends a wrong message to the EAC.
Partner states will start questioning whether Juba will be able to cope with
diversity in the EAC when it can’t manage its own security,” the source said.
EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera is on record as
saying that the current crisis in South Sudan does not augur well with its bid
for membership in the EAC.
Adherence to universally acceptable principles of good
governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social
justice are among the criteria South Sudan needs to fulfill to be accepted into
the bloc.
Other criteria include contribution to the
strengthening of integration within the region, geographical proximity to and
inter-dependence between it and partner states.
The country would also have to maintain and establish
a market driven economy, and have social and economic policies that are
compatible with those of the community.
The EAC verification report indicates that South Sudan
meets four of the six criteria above.
These include geographical proximity, market driven
economy, compatibilities in social and economic policies and potential
contribution to the strengthening of integration.
South Sudan is slightly larger than Kenya in area, but has a population of just 8.5 million. Kenya’s population is more than 40 million.
Juba provides a huge market, and Kenya and Uganda have
more than quadrupled their exports in goods and services to Southern Sudan in
the past 10 years.
“There is a sense of belonging and attachment to EAC
socially, historically, culturally and geographically,” reads the EAC report.
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