Urgent solution needed to Sudan, S. Sudan conflict Standardmedia.co.ke, 21/11/2012 – It is unfortunate that the ongoing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan has dragged on to the extent that the South can no longer meet its international obligations. But probably the worst hit foreigner in this conflict is Kenya, which also happens to the largest trading partner in this region. The importance of South Sudan to Kenya and the regional East Africa Community (EAC) is too critical to be left at the whims and tyrannical tendencies of the Khartoum Government. After participating in the birth of South Sudan, Kenya has been exploring the possibility of linking the rich oil fields of South Sudan to Kenya’s yet to be built Lamu port, providing this landlocked country with a vital route to the sea. This is if a railway line linking the city of Juba in Sudan to Lamu, an idea first sold to the Kenya Government by the late John Garang de Mabior then leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), becomes a reality. The discovery of commercial oil deposits in South Sudan has created renewed vigour on the Lamu Port and Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET). It is against this background that the ongoing forex shortage in South Sudan should be seen. Sudan President Hassan Omar Al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit are old warhorses and commanders, but above all else, friends that know each other very well having been Head of State and Vice President of a United Sudan. These statesmen stand on the threshold of history should they move fast to settle their differences on sharing of oil revenues before further damage is done to regional trade and the economy of this region. We urge leaders of the two countries to iron out their differences over borders, oil revenues and the disputed region of Abyei. Restore sanity Kenya has remained a passive bystander in this conflict so far but should now step in, if only to protect Kenyan businesses operating in the Sudan, including airlines, commercial banks and other private enterprises. The hardline stance taken by extremists on both sides of the negotiating table, should not only be discouraged but that other regional well-wishers, including Kenya should also weigh in, just as it has done to restore sanity in neighbouring Somalia. We urge for speedy resolutions on such sticking points as the region of Abyei, which is claimed by both sides, how much South Sudan should pay Khartoum for transporting its oil and demarcating the common border. In January 2012, the South shut down oil production, accusing Sudan of being somewhat economical with the truth about its oil, and the two countries’ economies have been seriously damaged as a result.
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