Gen Paul Lokech, Betty Bigombe sorting mess in South Sudan

What you need to know:

Peace agreement. With the tact of a diplomat, Gen Lokech is said to have told the parties to the agreement that we have to end this mess. And the only way to end it is by implementing the peace agreements.

How do you fancy travelling from Kampala to Khartoum to Juba and back to Kampala in less than 72 hours? It is quite an itinerary; quite more than just an itinerary if one cared to know that by the end of February 2020, South Sudan is supposed to have a new government under the provisions of some peace agreement or other.
Okay, here is the story: There is a subsisting peace agreement between the Government of South Sudan and Dr Riek Machar’s rebel SPLM-IO (Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement – In Opposition). There too is a peace agreement between the Government of South Sudan and all armed rebels under the umbrella of South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA).
Now, one of the deliverables from these peace agreements is the setting up of the R-TGoNU (Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity). The R-TGoNU thing was supposed to be set up in 2019. But in November 2019, parties to the agreements ‘re-agreed’ that the setting up of the R-TGoNU be delayed for 100 days.
Now dear reader, the 100-day delay will be ending in February. And you may ask: Is there any ‘rumour’ (or even the smell of one) that the R-TGoNU could be set up by the end of February? Yes. I have a verifiable rumour that Maj Gen Paul Lokech of the UPDF is turning things around and that because of his firmness and attitude, it is (highly) likely there could be a R-TGoNU before the end of February 2020.
In a statement issued on Tuesday (January 21, 2020), the European Union challenged all actors ‘to be steady’. The statement encouraged ‘Igad to continue its monitoring of the ceasefire via the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism.’ And that’s where Uganda’s Gen Lokech comes in. Maj Gen Lokech is the interim chair of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism responsible for monitoring the implementation of the security arrangements provided for in the peace agreements. For South Sudan, the stickiest issue is the military. So, the success of the entire mission could depend on Gen Lokech’s tact and act.
And while Gen Lokech is handling the security and military aspects of the agreements, Ms Betty Bigombe (designated as Presidential Envoy to the South Sudan?), is handling the political things. If these two pull it off in South Sudan, the resolution of the South Sudan mess could earn Mr Museveni a lasting legacy (not Somalia please). To have a single backbone of command and control, there is a need for training (orientation). And trust the South Sudanese. They want a curriculum and training manual to be developed first. After that, training schools be set up and directing staff (trainers) be secured and procured. Don’t laugh.
The objective of re-integration is to have a national army from different fighting groups. It is more about ideological orientation and patriotism than career training (a national curriculum and training manual can come later). With the tact of a diplomat, Gen Lokech is said to have told the parties to the agreement that we have to end this mess. And the only way to end it is by implementing the peace agreements.
There is Somalia; there too is South Sudan. My take is that if all goes well, Mr Museveni’s legacy could reap more from South Sudan’s story than from Somalia. And for Gen Lokech, it would be double happiness; for he served in Somalia and is now at the centre of resolving what has hitherto been viewed as the intractable South Sudan mess.