Photo/FILE Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said that the Sudan conflict was very complex and took 10 years for any headway to be made.
By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, July 10 2011 at 19:26
Posted Sunday, July 10 2011 at 19:26
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka on Sunday reflected on Kenya’s role in the peace process in Sudan that has led to the birth of Africa’s newest states.
The VP said that Kenya keenly followed the peace process in Sudan when he was Foreign minister.
He noted that the first step was to put together the issues that needed to be solved and they identified three key issues.
“The issue of self determination as a basic human right. And secondly there was the issue of marginalisation of the people of South Sudan and then the relationship between the state and religion,” said Mr Musyoka.
He added that they briefed the Inter-Government Authority on Development (Igad) heads of state but he was to later be replaced by former President Moi.
This followed a talk that he gave in Khartoum on the isolation of Sudan by the region and international community if the issues were not resolved.
Mr Musyoka said that the Sudan conflict was very complex and took 10 years for any headway to be made.
He noted the first breakthrough was the Machakos protocol where parties to the conflict agreed that there was need to hold a referendum on the issue.
He added that after the protocol was signed there was further stalemate and President Kibaki led a deliberate effort to break the stalemate when Narc took over power in the country in 2002.
“I felt that there is need to move the level of conversation from the technical team to the level of the vice-presidency of the two warring parties. But I found resistance in Khartoum. The president (Omar Al Bashir) was not keen,” Mr Musyoka said.
The VP explained that he managed to bring together Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang and the Sudan vice-president Ali Osman Taha.
He however added that there was a high level of suspicion between the two parties though the two leaders eventually met at the Great Rift Valley lodge for the negotiations.
“We did the best we could to settle the tension. Then came the toughest bit. For 10 months the two lived together in Naivasha,” said Mr Musyoka.
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