Opinion: On the day ECOWAS forces are fighting for the Gambian Democracy; What if other Regional Bodies like EAC, IGAD or SADC did similar in their regions?

In this days we see the strength of one collaborate effort from Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which has the strength of the Nigerian Army and other ones in the unity. The trading partnership of these nations involved in the regional group are now showing strength by supporting the The Gambian Republic and their wish for a change of an executive as they have put a joint operation from Senegal to invade and put the newly elected President Adama Barrow. The President, the incumbent Yahya Jammeh doesn’t want to step down, even as his army are filled with deserters and his loyal ministers who have resigned. Soldiers are even said be to be staying in the barracks instead of being in the field battling the joint operation. The others have fled to Senegal if they we’re legal counsel or minister, where the President-Elect where Barrow are sworn-in today.

What we should wish if there we’re other regional efforts who cleared the way and paths for nations to be free from their dictators and leaders who don’t stepdown. This would be a step up for international bodies where they actually have the ability to do something quickly without too long procedures. The United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council usually tend to use to long time to be able to fix it or even get voted mandate to engage in the troubled nation.

Gambia has had an election and now the ECOWAS have their army besides the borders. This is happening as the reports from Banjul hasn’t been hopeful as there still Presidential Guards around the Mansion of Jammeh today. The capital is also said to be a ghost time as the fear of the coming ECOWAS army arriving with the newly elected President. If they will come they will bring something new to Democracies around the world. That with or without mandate from the United Nations; the Regional Effort would deal with a thieving of a nation from one man. There reports that ECOWAS are sending the fighter jets over Gambian land, to prove that their behind Barrow and not Jammeh. This proves their will of standing behind the will of the citizens of Gambia. The warships have also blocked the waterways out of Gambia, so the incumbent should feel fenced in.

So what if these we’re common acts when people stole power and wouldn’t leave the Republic’s or nations. Like if Southern African Development Community (SADC) had gone in after the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai won the election over incumbent Zanu-PF leader and President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe in the year of 2002; that after a fraudulent election where the incumbent did ballot stuffing and other tricks to secure mandate for another term. If SADC had been honest and had military power they could have come with a joint operation of armies of Angola, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and less battalions from the other representative nations. As they would be stationed in South Africa and covered the borders with jet planes and tanks to settle grievances between a rigged election and the citizens who demands democracy in Zimbabwe.

Just as we could wish Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) would do something when they have lingering Presidents in power, which they would use their levels of experience and armies to prove that the people’s wishes should matter. The IGAD could have used their forces on the border and taken acts against civilians as acts against humanity, where the IGAD structure would shield their people like in the Republic who has the headquarter in Addis Ababa, so that means that Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan would have armies besides the border for the violence and killings in Oromia and Amhara in 2016. The same would be for the Kenyan, Ugandan, Sudan and Ethiopian who would act against the civil war and killings inside South Sudan. The same as people have been claimed that President Museveni has cheated himself into power and therefore an illegitimate government. This is something that could have happen and has already happen; would the IGAD act upon it?

Than we have the Eastern African Confederation (EAC), which is based in Arusha in Tanzania. That one has the co-operation between East African Countries. If this one really cared about invalid and illegitimate elections would the EAC have voluntarily sent troops to Burundi to stop the internal bloodshed and the assault on liberties; as the illegitimate government of President Pierre Nkurunziza came into power through a farce of an election in 2015! This could also been done from the EAC when we are thinking of the acts of the TGoNU in South Sudan as the violence escalated in 2016 after they had become a member state in the EAC. That would be of legitimate concerns and not with monetary gains as the UPDF went into the Republic to shield President Salva Kiir Mayardit before the new peace-agreement with him and Dr. Riek Machar. This time around they could go in shield the nation from both parties as they are victims of a power struggle against SPLM and SPLM-IO.

Nigerian Army in Senegal 18.01.2017

So the SADC, EAC and IGAD doesn’t have the reach or the wanted play to stand by the citizens, it’s more like it is a Presidents clubs where they can lounge and drink tea abroad. They should be unites and cooperation for the benefit of all the member states and their citizens. These ones shouldn’t just be for general trade and infrastructure projects between the nations. If they would be functional they would serve the people when needed. Still, this is a dreamful wish. Not that I wish them to have functional army, but joint operations like the one in Gambia happening today in the favour of the winning President Barrow. We should hope for more of these engagements and operations to besiege an already illegitimate regimes in nations, where the neighbours and the cooperatives their parts of are taken matters into their own hands. This is ten times better than when the United States, France, Germany or United Kingdom is sending their mercenaries to overpower and to overthrow a foreign power. This acts of today in Gambia, will not be seen as a neo-colonial relic put into our present day, instead it will be remembered for the collective effort of fellow nations on the continent acting on their own will and for the best of the Gambian democracy. That is rare and hopes for the best of humanity, not the last as the citizens of the world deserve a fair beating of the tyrants who clings to power. Peace.

Tanzanian Presidential Communications – The Arusha Process re-entery to Peace-Talks between Dr. Rick Machar and President Salva M. Kiir – South Sudan (20th January 2015)

UN Security Council 7235th meeting AM on South Sudan

WARRING PARTIES IN SOUTH SUDAN MUST EMBARK ON PATH OF RECONCILIATION OR RISK

HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE, SENIOR OFFICIAL WARNS SECURITY COUNCIL:

Reiterating Government’s Commitment to Peace Process,

Permanent Representative Urges Armed Groups to Show ‘Seriousness and Faithfulness’

After three years of independence, South Sudan was on the “brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and a protracted internal conflict”, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official warned the Security Council this morning.

“This is a man-made crisis, and those responsible for it have been slow in resolving it,” said Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, as he briefed the 15-member body on the Secretary-General’s 25 July report on South Sudan (document S/2014/537) and recent developments in the strife-torn African country following the report’s publication.

With both sides — the South Sudanese Government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in Opposition — believing they could achieve their aims through military means, the situation on the ground remained precarious, and the conflict risked spreading to other parts of the country, he stressed.  The Security Council’s visit next week to South Sudan was particularly timely, and should serve to caution both sides about the negative consequences of impeding the peace process.

“The parties must reach an agreement, without a further delay, on how to end the conflict and embark on the path of reconciliation,” he emphasized.  Those responsible for serious human rights violations must be held accountable and both sides must ensure unhindered, safe access by road, air and river for United Nations and humanitarian personnel.

He noted that talks had just resumed on 4 August between the South Sudanese Government and the SPLM/A in Opposition, and were being mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in an effort to sort out issues of security and humanitarian access; political transition and the creation of a Government of National Unity; justice, reconciliation and healing; and the parameters of a new Constitution, he said.  IGAD member States would also need to decide on the terms of applying sanctions against those who undermined the peace process, should the need arise.

Giving an overview of recent developments, he said that the ceasefire agreements, signed by the parties on 23 January, 9 May and 10 June, had been violated.  The first major incident occurred on 20 July when SPLM/A in Opposition forces attacked Government positions in Nassir, Upper Nile State.  Fighting for Nassir ensued until 26 July, when the SPLM/A in Opposition retreated.

Skirmishes had also occurred in Rensk, also in Upper Nile State, and in Ayod, Jonglei State, he said.  On 16 July, in Aweil, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) received reports of clashes between Government security positions and approximately 200 Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) deserters that had abandoned their posts over lack of salary payments.  On 2 August, clashes erupted between the Maban Defence Force, a local militia, and some 20 SPLA deserters of Nuer ethnicity.

Since the fighting began, United Nations personnel and aid workers had moved to the compounds of United Nations agencies and intergovernmental organizations for protection, and non-essential staff were been airlifted out, he said.  Thousands of civilians had sought refuge in a refugee camp near the airstrip.  A Quick Reaction Force with four armoured personnel carriers was en route to the area and another platoon size force was being deployed by air.

In addition, the deployment of more troops authorized under resolution 2155 (2014) was well under way, he said.  As of 4 August, fully 3,525 of the 5,500 surge troops had been deployed.  The remaining contingents — an infantry battalion, three military utility helicopters, three additional aircraft and a tactical helicopter unit — were expected to be sent by October.  The United Nations had also identified police-contributing countries for the deployment of four Formed Police Units comprising of 660 personnel.

The humanitarian operation in South Sudan was the largest within a single country, he said, with the Mission hosting more than 95,000 internally displaced persons at its site, far more than its intended capacity.  Heavy rains had severely flooded large areas of the UNMISS sites in Bentiu and Malakal, exacerbating already challenging health and sanitation conditions.  With the slow pace of the peace process, displacement was likely to continue.

“The status quo, therefore, is not sustainable and alternative options must be explored,” he said, stressing that UNMISS’ capacity and funding fell far short of overwhelming needs.  Aid had reached some 2.4 million people, but efforts had been hampered by insecurity, obstructed access, insufficient and delayed funding, and delayed logistic, human resources and political constraints.

The Mission had begun discussions with United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners to better delineate roles and responsibilities so that it could focus on its core mandate set forth in resolution 2155 (2014), he said.  Meantime, UNMISS continued to encourage internally displaced persons to relocate to newly constructed sites in order to alleviate overcrowding at the existing ones.

Joseph Moum Malok ( South Sudan) reiterated his Government’s commitment to the peace process and its determination to reach a final settlement through negotiations.  President Salva Kiir Mayardit had expressed willingness to form an interim or transitional Government in order to promote constitutional reform, national peace, and reconciliation and accountability mechanisms.

“We can’t afford to prolong the current situation,” he said, calling on the rebel groups to show “seriousness and faithfulness” in the negotiations and on the international community to remind them of the importance of adhering to the previous ceasefire agreements, which the rebels had violated repeatedly.

Furthermore, the international community must be mindful of the Government’s lack of technical capability needed to swiftly undertake forensic and legal proceedings, he said, expressing regret over UNMISS’ stalled efforts to build capacity of the organized forces and other rule of law institutions.

The meeting began at 10 a.m. and ended at 10:20 a.m.

Link:

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2014/sc11510.doc.htm

Quick thought: 

We can all just see that the UN Security Council used ten minutes on a matter which themselves describes as a possible humanitarian catastrophe. Is that all the lives is worth for the UN? They fear that SPLM going back to the former days of SPLA. An they say the action comes from the opposition. The matter is how to solve the crisis and the effect of it. Endgame should matter, and isn’t that the mandate and honor of UNAMISS. They are supposed to have 5,500 surge troops, by 4. July, but they had gotten 3,525. So we can wonder if they will get the funding for the UNAMISS, when their missing nearly 2000 surge troops to their operation. If this isn’t sad piece of history, I don’t know history. Especially when it’s  already filled with the sadness of the MONUC (2000-2010 in DRC) and UNAMIR (1993-1996). If you wonder why I add those into play? Well, then you should read some on them and see what I am saying without saying it. Hope that UNAMISS will have another fate then UNAMIR and MONUC.