News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo

A CAREER Kenyan soldier-turned diplomat is the country’s unsung hero behind the Sudanese agreement that brought to an end the 21 year old bush war in Southern Sudan.

Lt. Gen {rtd} Lazaro Sumbeiywo has now joined Gen.Olesugun Obasanjo, the former military and civilian ruler of Nigeria on the mediation process to end the on-going war in Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo{DRC}.

In recognition of his key role as the chief mediator in the Sudanese peace deal that ended the 21 year old civil war in which an estimated 1.5 million people died, Gen. Sumbeiywo was recently appointed a special adviser to Gen Obasanjo, the chief mediator in the dialogue on the Congo, which ended its first sitting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi recently.

The 61 year old retired top Kenyan soldier who hails from the Keiyo sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group in the North Rift said he hopes for the talks after a brief meeting with two mediation teams representing President Joseoph Kabila and the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda of the National Congress for the Defence of the OPeople{CNDP}

Gen Sumbeiywo was last week quoted widely by the EASTAFRICAN a Nairobi most influential weekly that his immediate concern though, is that the parties in the Congo talks are still at the stage of sizing up and possibly arms-twisting each other.

“We have not started on procedural issues and we are not expecting an agreement overnight. Furthermore, I am still learning their disposition and how they react to each other, so we have not started on substantive issues,” the Kenyan career soldier said.

“But the secret of such talks, he explained, from experience, is that the mediators must first win the confidence of both parties, and in the case of the Congo, the facilitators must first ensure that two teams are clear about one another’s intention,” he said.

Gen,.Sumbeiywo, however, confessed that before joining the Congo talks, he did not know much about the root cause of the Congo conflict, rather than what is regularly reported in the news about Gen. Nkunda’s rebellious activities in the eastern part of that country.

The top Kenyan soldier, however, emphasized that, in such cases, one has to learn on the job. What matters is the mediator’s ability to access the major players involved in the conflict.

When he was the chief mediator in the Sudanese peace talks, which culminated in the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement {CPA} in January 2005 between the Khartoum based government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement {SPLM}, the General disclosed that he had introduced what he called “holistic” approach. This approach was aimed at looking at all aspects of the dispute in their totality to identify which parties can trade concession.

Thus, the suspicion experienced in the first Congo facer-to-face talks in Nairobi are therefore not unique.He had, however, encountered worse hostility during the initial stages of the Sudanese peace talks between the groups led by the late Dr. John Garang and the Sudanese second Vice President Ali Osman Taha.

Before taking up the Sudanese assignment, which lasted for solid five years, Gen Sumbeiywo was earlier involved in the first attempt to bring the warring Somali factions together following the break up of the country in 1991

.Gen Sumbeiywo proudly said that he managed to bring the Mogadishu warring groups together in 1996 for the signing of the Nairobi Understanding Agreement, which was, however, immediately discarded.

And recently involved in the behind the scenes cooling tempers following the outbreak of the post-election violence in his own country, Kenya at the beginning of the year 2008.

He is, however, reluctant and unwilling to disclose the role he played. As he put it,” My role in the Kenyan conflict will remain a top secret for the time being because I do not want to upstage the wonderful job that was done by the former UN Chief Dr. Kofi Annan.

A naturally modest person with the Kalenjin traditional discipline and virtues, despite having many achievement in peace building and negotiations, Gen Sumbeiywo says the secret of his successes is simply prayers. “Yes prayer works wonders, and throughout my career, I have always applied prayers when things become tough, I resort to prayers and fasting,”he revealed.

But as he takes on one of his toughest assignment to ensure that peace returns to eastern Congo, The Kenyan soldier-cum-diplomat says he is not happy with the implementation of the Sudanese peace deal, which has run aground as Khartoum regime and the SPLM continue to feud over the Abyei boundary and the oil wells.

“Some time I am saddened, however, the CPA has a clear timeframe and it is only the Sudanese who can make it work or not,”he said.

The General said that trying to restore calm in Kenya after the outbreak of the post-election violence was the most agonizing task in his career as a peace mediator.

“A fireman putting out fire in somebody’s house is just doing his job, but when you are putting out fire in your own house, is a matter of life and death, the General said.

Recalling that there were now early warning signs that violence would erupt and breakout in Kenya, Gen Sumbeiywo said ,”our country’s political class had underestimated the mood of the people, especially the youth.

This means the violence could recur unless the country builds structures and institutions that addresses the aspiration of the youth.

“The youth must be given a chance to utilize the available opportunities, because they believe they can make a difference if they are incorporated in the mainstream economy, politics and social affairs,” he added.

In terms of the continent, the Kenyan top soldier-turned diplomat believes that the problem of Africa is that those who took power after independence wanted to continue with the structure established by the colonialists. Their successors too do not want to reform the structures.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com News sourced fro

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Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:58:41 -0800 [12/31/2008 04:58:41 AM CST]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: TOP KENYAN SOLDIER TURNED DIPLOMAT AND PEACEMAKER NOW JOINS OBASANJO MEDIATION TEAM TO END THE ARMED CONFLICT IN CONGO